Cop Block

Last week a judge for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said that eavesdropping legislation, long used by police and their allies to target those who attempted to document their actions, “likely violates” the First Amendment and ordered that authorities be banned from enforcing it. As Harvey Grossman, legal director of the ACLU [...]

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Our friends at Flex Your Rights made a timeline that depicted “A recent history of notable arrests and litigants whose court cases are poised to unravel unjust wiretapping laws.” It includes many incidents of which you’re likely already aware, and some that might be new. And though the exact circumstances in each situation differed significantly [...]

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UPDATE:  March 2nd, 2012 Judge rules eavesdropping law unconstitutional “A Cook County judge today ruled the state’s controversial eavesdropping law unconstitutional.” “These people have tried to hide in the shadows. They don’t like being exposed.” – Michael Allison Do you know about Michael Allison? You should. A mechanic and construction worker by profession, 41-year-old Allison [...]

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Along with Illinois and Maryland, Massachusetts has the most draconian and outdated legislation targeting those who film “public servants”. Case in point the arrests of myself and Ademo and our felony wiretapping charges for filming while in Greenfield last July. Unsurprisingly such an excessive and illogical punishment is not without major criticism and push-back. Those [...]

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Anthony Graber who was driving his motorcycle down the highway at high speeds and doing tricks has had his ‘felony wiretapping’ charges dropped.  I’m happy for Anthony and hope that someone in Greenfield, MA will do the same for Pete and I.  I also hope Anthony goes on with the case and doesn’t let the [...]

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At Cop Block, we’re big advocates of filming the police and this video from the Cato Institute provides one of the clearest explanations as to why.

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Time Magazine has become the latest in a string of mainstream media outlets to address the issue of police abusing wiretapping laws to censor people with video cameras and duck accountability. Anthony Graber, a Maryland Air National Guard staff sergeant, faces up to 16 years in prison. His crime? He videotaped his March encounter with [...]

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Carlos Miller, author of the Photography is Not a Crime blog, was interviewed several days ago by MSNBC about Anthony Graber and the abuse of wiretapping laws by police. Miller talks about the video here. More about the Anthony Graber incident here.

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