Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In Maryland you can get a ticket/arrested for recording a cop; I believe other states also have similar laws - and I'm fairly certain those laws eventually will be thrown out...but not yet.
In Maryland you can get a ticket/arrested for recording a cop; I believe other states also have similar laws - and I'm fairly certain those laws eventually will be thrown out...but not yet.
I'm pretty sure you can film them in California and Texas.
You can film them anywhere. You can't make a law that directly conflicts with the first amendment.
I have to admit I do not know for sure, however, I believe the Maryland law was based on "recording without permission" that is often used for the wiretapping statutes - that is, BOTH parties must be aware of and have given permission for the recording to take place.
In Virginia, where I live, only one party has to know about the recording.
As such, I don't believe the 1st amendment has anything to do with this one.
Note, too, that some court somewhere MAY have said recording in public is okay, period, thus throwing most of these anti-police-recording laws out the window en-masse but, not being a lawyer, I have no idea if that has happened yet.
I have to admit I do not know for sure, however, I believe the Maryland law was based on "recording without permission" that is often used for the wiretapping statutes - that is, BOTH parties must be aware of and have given permission for the recording to take place.
In Virginia, where I live, only one party has to know about the recording.
As such, I don't believe the 1st amendment has anything to do with this one.
Note, too, that some court somewhere MAY have said recording in public is okay, period, thus throwing most of these anti-police-recording laws out the window en-masse but, not being a lawyer, I have no idea if that has happened yet.
Well, courts have ruled that there's generally not an expectation of privacy in public. The 1st Circuit and several lower courts have ruled specifically that cops may be recorded. SCOTUS has declined to hear a case involving these laws.
Well, courts have ruled that there's generally not an expectation of privacy in public, but these laws haven't been thrown out federally.
After making my last post I did a simple search to see what the law(s) are/were all about - apparently the Maryland law - which may be void, BTW, if other things I read are valid - said you could not record VOICE without permission of all parties - and THAT was based off the wiretapping laws already on the Maryland books.
Again, in Virginia the wiretapping laws may be written differently even more than the "only one party has to know" bit.
After making my last post I did a simple search to see what the law(s) are/were all about - apparently the Maryland law - which may be void, BTW, if other things I read are valid - said you could not record VOICE without permission of all parties - and THAT was based off the wiretapping laws already on the Maryland books.
Again, in Virginia the wiretapping laws may be written differently even more than the "only one party has to know" bit.
Right after I posted that I remembered that, while SCOTUS hadn't ruled on this, some lower courts had. I looked it up. See my edit.
I looked up the Maryland law on wiretapping - it's still "on the books" and, as far as THIS non-lawyer poster reading it can see, still prohibits recording the police: Maryland recording law
Other cases may have, as noted earlier, thrown this law out as being invalid in the police-recording scenario.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
