1st amendment victory

with the way things have been going since 9/11 kinda suprised by this ruling. the cops film us and there's cameras everywhere, but when you film them or need the footage from their vehicles to defend yourself the tapes are often erased or hard to come by.

i find the mentality of the police in many instancs disturbing. where do they get the idea of arresting someone for filming them illegal?

 

it's about time. I have nothing but respect for good cops. Society as a whole could not function without them, but there are enough bad ones out there that some sort of countermeasure and protection needs to be in place for the common citizen. Living in Arizona I have not had to worry about this issue, as the wire tap laws here say only one person in the conversation needs to be aware of the wire tap for it to be legal. But the abuse of this law I've seen out of other states makes me sick.

 

it's nice from time to time to agree on something. this is long overdue. being able to film cops is a way of checking their actions. it's the thread of public exposure, particularly in situations where brutality is routine. like demonstrations that involve the left. take the protests outside the 2000 rnc in philadelphia. i have a friend who was a legal observer. his gig was basically to photograph philly cops beating the shit out of people. which they were doing. at one point, he was photographing such an frolick involving a couple cops kicking the shit out of some kid and the representatives of philly's finest saw him. so they went after him. took the camera, broke it and a couple of my friends ribs. so they had to take him to the hospital. that trip to the hospital came with an automatic felony assault on a police officer charge. and this sort of thing happens a lot. it's all in a day's work, dontcha know, within that gray area of space that can be taken by the police or the public because it's not defined. this ruling is a good thing.