May 8th, 2010 For Immediate Release Contact: C. Drew (day) 773/561-7676 (Evening) 773/678-7545 e-mail umcac@art-teez.org Your Right to Audio-Record Police in Public Screen Print Artist, C. Drew is presently being prosecuted on a 1st class felony charge for audio-recording his own arrest while testing Chicago's misdemeanor peddlers license law. His lawyer, Mark Weinberg, filed a brief with the court recently focusing on the constitutional issues relating to this case that has broad implications for everyone with a cell phone in the future. The case law is underdeveloped. This is a historical case. #file_1# The debate is over the underdeveloped body of case law that sets precedence for your right to gather information in public on how your public servants are serving the public (you) especially at the time of arrest or contact with police. If this decision goes the way of C Drew it will allow bloggers and others to gather and use audio recordings taken in the public of public servants at work. If if C Drew is found guilty, it will make bloggers or whistle blowers criminals for recording the public conversations of public servants without everyone's prior consent in public in Illinois and other states with two party consent eavesdropping laws. Granted, Illinois eavesdropping law is extreme among the twelve extreme States which have a double-party consent eavesdropping law. Still, this case is important because the First Amendment case law around audio recording police officers on duty in public without their knowledge is so underdeveloped and the availability of cell phones to make this issue of growing importance is increasing. The issue of the publics use of cell phone technology to report on and to protect themselves from abuse by public officials *(in public - on duty) can not be ignored! Mark Weinberg's response to the State's Attorney's Motion Original Motion to Dismiss (by Mark Weinberg) State's Attorney's response The following is from a recent occurrence in Chicago re-imagined under the two different case outcomes. You are youthful, riding with your friends and everyone is happy. It 's 8pm. You are all sober and on the way to a party on a Friday night when a Chicago policeman behind you pulls you over. He motions for your girl friend in the front seat with you to roll down the window and he leers at her. He tells you your tail light is out. Then he starts to talk racist crap about all your friends daring anyone to argue. By the time you are allowed to drive off you have three different tickets for minor auto repair issues. Then, your girlfriend shows you an audio recording she collected on her cell phone of the incident. If our legal battle succeeds in forcing the law to change the tape can be admitted to the court as evidence and the policeman will be disciplined (hopefully). If the State's Attorney's argument governs and the present unconstitutional Illinois eavesdropping law remains on the books, your girl friend will face up to 15 years in an Illinois State prison for violating the policeman's privacy. If you are a blogger or a whistle blower - it means you are greatly limited and easily criminalized when you gather information in public by audio-recording and publish public conversations from hostile witnesses or public officials taken in public when there is no expectation of privacy. On Tuesday, May 18th, at 26th and California, room 602 at 10:00, Judge Stanley Sacks will decide to dismiss this case or let it go to trial. This historic legal battle will continue until precedence is established on this issue that will greatly influence the limits of personal technology and the freedoms we enjoy. When the people's ability to gather information on how the police treat them in public is limited so is their ability to protect themselves from and correct errant behavior by police. In These Times: Free Speech, for Art’s Sake http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/5325/free_speech_for_arts_sake/ Nancy Bechtol video: C Drew Answers Eavesdropping Charges http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-K_dTlzs5M Chicago's Thick Blue Wall - Radley Balko writes for Reason.com on C Drew's arrest http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/14/chicagos-thick-blue-wall Comments published below - e-mail comments to umcac@art-teez.org (for coming exhibit) http://www.c-drew.com/blog/comments-on-suntimes-article-creative-felony/ Nancy Bechtol 5 minute video documentary on Chicago's violation of artists' rights and C Drew's protests. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pa9qTwWeIs Patrick Boylan of the Center Square Ledger, the online news source for the Ravenswood neighborhood, http://www.centersquareledger.com/news/free-speech-advocate-arrested/ Cell Phone Audio Recording cases and police in Boston http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/12-5 C Drew Uptown Multi-Cultural Art Center Free Speech Artist's Movement umcac@art-teez.org http://www.art-teez.org http://www.c-drew.com/blog