From the article:
An Illinois judge ruled the state’s eavesdropping law unconstitutional as applied to a man who faced up to to 75 years in prison for secretly recording his encounters with police officers and a judge.
(shorter article)
Michael Allison faced 5 counts of eavesdropping, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years each, for "secretly" recording 1 judge and 4 police. What is interesting about this is the man had requested a court reporter to record his trial for another incident with what he called police harassment, and when the judge declined (Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Kimbara Harrell), he stated he would be recording the proceedings himself. When he arrived for his court appearance, the judge immediately asked him if he had a recording device and if it was on. He stated that yes, he did and it was on, and was immediately arrested for 5 counts wiretapping and eavesdropping.
When he went to the trial for that 'crime', the judge threw the case out of court and said he had absolutely every right to record his trial, thankfully. Considering 75 years is 3 years short of the American national life expectancy, 78.1, in essence this man had the possibility of life in prison for using a voice recorder to record his own trial. Illinois has abolished capital punishment, meaning that this man would have received the same sentence if he had walked into the courtroom and killed the judge and the 4 cops.
Luckily, the second judge (Circuit Court Judge David Frankland) in this instance had a better head on his shoulders and is apparently better fit to be an actual judge than the first pathetic excuse. Whether you agree what he did was lawful or not, there is no denying that the time definitely didn't fit the crime. Setting a precedent that states 'you'll serve the same amount of time if you just murdered the people' is a serious threat to both the public safety as well as safety of police officers. It is for this reason why absurdly malevolent and obviously cruel and unjust punishment and prison terms are bad for a society.
From the article: “A statute intended to prevent unwarranted intrusions into a citizen’s
privacy cannot be used as a shield for public officials who cannot
assert a comparable right of privacy in their public duties,” the judge
wrote in his decision dismissing the five counts of eavesdropping
charges against defendant Michael Allison.
Illinois State attorney general Lisa Madigan, you have some explaining to do
Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Kimbara Harrell, shame on you, you are a pathetic excuse for a judge.
Prosecutor Tom Wiseman, shame on you, call yourself an American? (figures your a crooked lawyer)
and finally
A huge thank you to Circuit Court Judge David Frankland for having a good understanding of exactly how our country is supposed to work, and for making a ruling for the people. I have not researched any of your past decisions, but I stand by you and this decision 110%. You did good.
Tom Wiseman, the prosecutor, has said they are considering appealing the judges decision to a higher court. Michael Allison states he would not enter a plea bargain and fight this to the end, as he believes it is his first amendment right to record public officials doing their public duties, especially if it directly affects him. If this does go to a higher court that could be bad news for either Michael Allison, or he could succeed in getting the obviously unconstitutional law overturned, once and for all.
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