Recording officials doing their job has been an ongoing problem. And when I say “ongoing problem” I mean: “they don’t like it.” I thought I would take a little bit of time and discuss some of the news stories that I have seen recently.
We have a few good links to issues that have popped up in the past couple years. There are reports of the Mississippi case – where the cops found out the defendant was recording the incident, deleted the recording and returned the camera. The video was recovered, and the statements of the officers were shown to be lies.
Another case in Illinois – This one depicts how these laws can extend to the courtroom. It should be noted that courtrooms in Minnesota are routinely recorded, so the steps that Mr. Allison had to take would be unnecessary, for the most part, in Minnesota. But the article goes on to discuss several other cases.
Finally, another case in Chicago – a city unfortunately known for its questionable law enforcement. Here, a 60 year old artist and teacher faces a possible sentence of 15 years in prison for taping an officer.
Those are just some examples, luckily I have yet to find any over zealous prosecutors attempting to charge citizens for recording police encounters. In addition, Minnesotans (within the State of Minnesota) have a strong argument that such recordings should be legal under Minnesota Statute 626A.13.
Please remember that the interpretation and analysis presented here is not intended to be legal advice. If you are seeking legal advice please contact us for a free consultation and actual examination the issues that your case may present.
By:
Landon J. Ascheman, Esq.
Landon@AschemanSmith.com
(B) 612.217.0077 (C) 651.280.9533 (F) 651.344.0700
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