Illegal to Video-Tape Arrest

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by pointman

I agree and believe that there is a legitimate argument that it violates the First Amendment. Hopefully that statute is rendered unconstitutional. In theory if you videotape a loved one on the street and there are people in the background you are violating the Maryland recording law. The rule in NY is that only one person who is part of a conversation needs to know it is being taped and the First Amendment should protect that right for every US citizen.

I agree with you. We're not talking about eavesdropping or something like that. If you hid a tape-recorder in someone's booth at a restaurant and recorded their conversation, that should be illegal.

But an arrest is a public event that should be recorded to make sure that everything is done correctly. There is often a discrepancy between the officer's side of the story and the suspect's side of the story. A video-tape of an arrest actually protects everyone involved.