# Illegal to film police officers while making an arrest.  Insane new trend in state laws.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-to-film-police-officers-while-making-an-arrest-insane-new-trend-in-state-laws/541936>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 4, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-to-film-police-officers-while-making-an-arrest-insane-new-trend-in-state-laws/541936 "2010-06-04T15:29:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-to-film-police-officers-while-making-an-arrest-insane-new-trend-in-state-laws/541936/61 "2010-09-29T04:27:26Z")

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> [@MOIDALIZE](#):
>
> UPDATE: The charges in the Maryland case were dismissed.
> 
> [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/story-lab/2010/09/wiretapping\_charges\_dropped\_ag.html](http://blog.washingtonpost.com/story-lab/2010/09/wiretapping_charges_dropped_ag.html)

A hearty 3 cheers for Judge Pitt (Jr). It’s nice to see a common sense opinion rendered in a lower court.

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**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-to-film-police-officers-while-making-an-arrest-insane-new-trend-in-state-laws/541936/62 "2011-08-31T02:34:14Z")

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> [@msmith537](#):
>
> In Massachusettes, a man was arrested in a similar fashion for videotaping an arrest. The charges were dismissed and he and the ACLU are now suing the city and the arresting officers.
> 
> [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/02/man\_arrested\_for\_taping\_police\_sues\_city\_officers/](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/02/man_arrested_for_taping_police_sues_city_officers/)  
> From what I can tell, this is not a new law, but cops taking advantage of existing wiretap laws that make illegal to record conversations without concent or due process.

Resurrecting thread to note that Simon Glik, the guy in Massachusetts who was arrested for filming police officers, sued and won. The police officers in question appealed, and lost again.

Warning: PDF.

> **[10-1764P-01A.pdf](https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/10-1764P-01A.pdf)**
>
> 118.64 KB

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-to-film-police-officers-while-making-an-arrest-insane-new-trend-in-state-laws/541936/63 "2011-08-31T03:02:34Z")

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[New thread started to discuss the latest appeals court verdict in the Glik case](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=622429).

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