[MeadowHobbit]

The guy was charged with felony wiretapping
for videotaping the police with his helmet
camera. His case was overturned in court.


http://blog.washingtonpost.com/story-lab/2010/09/wiretapping_charges_dropped_ag.html

 

[rexmitchell]

Its about time, that case was bogus and just an attempt by the cop to make up for him looking stupid.

 

[Biker Dash]

OMFG!!!!

You have NO clue how hard it is not to break out in a string of curses sow horrifyingly vulgar, that I would be banned from 4-chan even, I am THAT PI$$ED!

I cannot believe that such a case even MADE IT into the court. This just shows just how effed up this country is getting. (dont get me wrong, I love my country, but I FEAR my gov't)

THIS is the reason I fear that the next Revolution is well on it's way. I am just thankful the the Judge in this case had the sense to know that the Constitution Of The United States STILL is the Law of the Land, and that the cops and DA were CLEARLY in violation of that.

 

[67fire]

Its about time, that case was bogus and just an attempt by the cop to make up for him looking stupid.

LOOKING STUPID???

I would have to say that there could be NO DOUBT about it!
What a pompous fool he IS!

He probably even thinks that Women find him attractive.


Eric

 

[louturks]

wow, that is crazy

 

[Dodsfall]

It's clearly a case of revenge by the authorities. Using the legal system to get back at a perceived slight.

Wiretapping, right.
Things like this are the reason I'm always railing at people to protect their freedoms in all cases. Every new law that's passed has the potential to be abused by the authorities, even if the original intent sounds good at the time. The problem with a lot of legislation now is that it's written so sloppily, it's ripe for abuse. It's totally frightening when it's 2500 pages long and the legislators don't even bother to read it.

 

[67fire]

It's clearly a case of revenge by the authorities. Using the legal system to get back at a perceived slight.

Wiretapping, right.
Things like this are the reason I'm always railing at people to protect their freedoms in all cases. Every new law that's passed has the potential to be abused by the authorities, even if the original intent sounds good at the time. The problem with a lot of legislation now is that it's written so sloppily, it's ripe for abuse. It's totally frightening when it's 2500 pages long and the legislators don't even bother to read it.

Even better when they slip in a 15% tax on home sales into the Healthcare Bill. :thumbsup:
Sell your home in 2011 and find out all about it. :biggrin:

Eric

 

[Easy Rider 2]

It's clearly a case of revenge by the authorities.

I don't disagree with any of the comments here but I think an important point is being missed.

In many states, it is illegal to record another's words without their specific permission. If this happened in one of those states, it could easily have gone the other way too.

I don't think VIDEO is illegal anywhere......if done in a "public" place.
It's a somewhat strange distinction but it is true.

 

[Dodsfall]

I heard the LA police tried to institute a two-week waiting period on video cameras after the Rodney King incident.

It should come down to a reasonable expectation of privacy. A cop yelling orders on a crowded public highway has no expectation that other people will not hear (or record) him. It's much different than recording someone's phone calls or using surveillance equipment to record a conversation between two officers in a car with the windows rolled up.

Police departments themselves often use hidden microphones in sting operations, such as drug buys. When talking with an undercover officer or informant, the offender has no reasonable expectation that the person they are talking with can not hear them speak, so it is allowed without a warrant. The same thing applies to phone conversations between police and the public.

Planting a bug in a suspect's vehicle or home without a warrant is a different matter all together. The reasonable expectation of privacy is then broken.


Badly-written laws can and will get abused by the authorities. The court system was put in place as a check to potential abuse or unintended consequences of a law.

 

[Easy Rider 2]

It should come down to a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Maybe it SHOULD but in many places it DOESN'T when it comes to audio recordings.....and the laws have been around for a LONG time.....and the politicians don't seem to want to change them. Hmmmm......I wonder WHY ??

 

[robow]

Not long ago I had to check these wiretap laws in Ohio, everyday when I would leave the gym I would pass the same cop sitting in his cruiser smoking. I called to complain because it is illegal in Ohio for the cops to smoke in their cars, because of the no smoking law, it always came down to my word against his, so of course they sided with him. Feeling beat I decided I would just photograph him and mail it to the mayor. All this happened about the time this video came out so I checked the laws. Later I got his picture and mailed it to the mayor with a list of dates I complained and who I complained to. I haven't seen him since, he probably just found a better place to smoke.

 

[tubesteak]

now thats just a plain dumb situation

 

[ScrumDown]

They WASTED Maryland's taxpayers money for that 30 seconds of nothing?

And the gov't is scratching it's head as to why the general population is pissed off at them?! :icon_mad:

 

[bahtah]

Helmet camera case overturned

Things like this just reinforced my belief that "politicians and attorneys, if we didn't have any we wouldn't need any". Once again those in authority do not want to be held responsible for their actions. A public space is just that, public and there is no expectation of privacy.

 

[Pepperoni]

This is ridiculous. I know a few cops, and most of the time the ones I don't know seem pretty nice and usually let me off with warnings. But if you watch the news, all you see is police brutality, tazers causing people to fall off bridges, shooting harmless dogs in front of children, and sheer stupidity. Maybe we should check these people out more thoroughly before giving them weapons and "authority"