Words by Nadia Shakur
There has been a voluminous amount of rumors circulating throughout the Internet stating that the Illinois legislature passed a bill prohibiting citizens from filming police interactions while they are on duty. This was a false assumption and the opposite of what the bill actually reads which the governor of Illinois is still mulling over. With more research, we will clear the misunderstanding while breaking down the actual law. The Huffington Post reports the law in question is a new eavesdropping bill that was created to replace the Illinois Eavesdropping Act, ruled unconstitutional prior this year.
Bill 1342 is the new law, which still allows civilian recording of law enforcement on duty with respects to our First amendment rights to do so. However the bill also expanded the circumstances governing law enforcement agencies and informants in surveillance operations on private communications such as phone calls, emails etc. According to state representative Elaine Nejkritz this was the compromise needed for civilian recording to be included in the bill.
The interception of private conversations by law enforcement or informants is given without the consent of the individual, the acquiring of a warrant nor a judges approval. The time period allocated to this surveillance expansion is 24 hours before a warrant is received on the grounds of certain serious crimes being committed and a State Attorney gives approval. read more
