Illinois Judge Upholds Law Forbidding Taping of Police, Says Weakening It Would Appease “Snooping Bloggers”
This week, U.S. 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner ruled against a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, saying if an Illinois eavesdropping law prohibiting the taping of policy activity was weakened, “snooping” bloggers and gang members would “rejoice” at the news.
In response, the ACLU vowed to seek a federal injunction.
The case comes from Chicago, where police officers tried to dissuade Tiawanda Moore from filing a sexual assault complaint against one of their ilk, she tried to turn the tables on them — Moore took out a Blackberry and recorded their resistance to allow her to press charges.
Before she knew it, Moore had been slapped with an eavesdropping charge that’s becoming increasingly common as local police crack down on anyone who attempts to monitor police activity. She faced a class 1 felony prosecution and up to 15 years in prison.
There are not many/any kind words about the police or justice system below the read link. Because much of it was written while I sit here absolutely seething, I decided I should put it behind a jump. Just in case there is a member of the judicial system, or police force, reading this that doesn’t bring shame to their office like Posner and his ilk.
Fuck you Richard Posner. Not Justice Richard Posner, because I still have a little respect for the office you hold. But fuck you as an individual, a human being, and as the sad excuse of an arbiter of justice you claim to be.
I know that not every judge in this country is crooked, and the same goes for police officers. But stories like these are why I legitimately enjoy footage of when people fight back. I enjoy watching 5-10 people jump on an officer who acts above the law, and hope that other officers watch and remember those images the next time they consider beating or sexually assaulting a human being. I enjoy watching riot footage that shows drastically outnumbered riot police, and seeing the fear on their faces when they realize the people they’re terrorizing have had enough. I’m tired of living in a country where the people fear the police, army, and government more than the the police, army, and government fear the people.
Maybe the Panthers had it right. Maybe the only way to protect yourself from vengeance, a badge, and a gun really is to carry one yourself. And I think that’s a damn shame.
I really wanted to write something un-biased about this story. But fuck that. This literally boils down to a judge, and police department, who don’t want their actions monitored. You know why a public servant wouldn’t want their actions monitored during work hours? Because they aren’t serving the public. They’re hurting them.
Tiawanda Moore’s story is quite possibly the best example yet of why we shouldn’t allow the police department to go unchecked, and Posner is more concerned with bloggers and gang members than making sure people have the means to document abuses of power by local police. Here’s an idea. Punish the officers responsible for police brutality. Punish the officers who sexually assault the very people they are supposed to be protecting. Punish the officers who lie, who steal, who bribe, take bribes, or in any other way tarnish the image of the badge. Because [insert your deity of choice] knows that we don’t need another reason to hate them. Filming the police has become so popular, because it seems like you’ve got a 50/50 shot at catching an officer doing something wrong nowadays.
Here are a couple ways to contact Richard Posner, and tell him what a disgusting human being he is. Or, if you prefer the diplomatic route(of which I am incapable of proceeding right now, thanks to bipolar-powered fury), you could send him a polite letter explaining why you disagree with his decisions. Either way, this man deserves to hear from the people he just decided didn’t need protection from the men authorized to walk around town with guns strapped to their waist.
Office at Univ. of Chicago: (yep, they let this guy teach future law students….)
University of Chicago Law School
1111 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637 USA
Phone: 773-702-9608
Fax: 773-702-0730
E-mail: rposner@uchicago.edu
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