# Should you ever even go to an interrogation room with the police? Like, even with your lawyer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194 "2021-10-25T21:58:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/221 "2022-01-03T18:52:37Z")
True. The DA may well refuse to bring charges. Still, the cost of bail and hiring a lawyer could easily be $10,000. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/222 "2022-01-03T19:19:11Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > where is the right to record government officials in a building? I get that you can be fed up at the DMV, but where in the Constitution or the laws can you point to say that I have some sort of right to document the lazy/sloppy/ignorant treatment that you get? What an odd way at looking at the constitution and the laws. You have rights to do what you want unless and until you are prohibited by laws proscribing your conduct, not the other way around. So, yes, if you are shoving a camera in people’s faces, you can be said to be assaulting or harassing them. But just passively filming? That’s not illegal, on a general basis. I wouldn’t be surprised if some locations prohibit the use of recording equipment inside their facilities, but it’s not like it’s a default position. I note that some people have claimed that recording would violate the privacy of the workers. But, before you can claim that your right to privacy has been violated, you first have the establish a reasonable expectation of privacy (sometimes phrased as “an expectation of privacy which society is prepared to deem reasonable”). I don’t see any expectation of privacy while doing your job. In the back room where the general public isn’t permitted? Sure, but not when you are “on the floor” dealing with customers. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/223 "2022-01-04T00:12:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Still, the cost of bail and hiring a lawyer could easily be $10,000. Which is why I support the work of the ACLU, [sending donations and membership](https://action.aclu.org/give/now?&utm_medium=pm&utm_source=gs&utm_campaign=nat-dig-pm-dd-bpi&utm_content=gs-search-eoy-8278381197-82611000862-482504793070-%7Bkeywordid%7D_20201124&utm_term=&initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=pm&initms=nat-dig-pm-dd-bpi-gs-search-eoy-8278381197-82611000862-482504793070-%7Bkeywordid%7D_20201124&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=pm&ms=nat-dig-pm-dd-bpi-gs-search-eoy-8278381197-82611000862-482504793070-%7Bkeywordid%7D_20201124&cid=7014A000001Zs9uQAC&initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=sem&utm_medium=sem&initms=200114_evergreenun_sem-482504793070-82611000862-aclu%20membership-p_segmentc_ggl&utm_source=ggl&utm_campaign=evergreenun&utm_content=200114_sem-482504793070-82611000862-aclu%20membership-p_segmentc&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=sem&ms=200114_evergreenun_sem-482504793070-82611000862-aclu%20membership-p_segmentc_ggl&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2sqOBhCGARIsAPuPK0hKjAr0FP6m33dEQfKvIPWJHHGELrjw4siw1PRWGlYzQGvQ5oJcEO8aAqIUEALw_wcB&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2sqOBhCGARIsAPuPK0hKjAr0FP6m33dEQfKvIPWJHHGELrjw4siw1PRWGlYzQGvQ5oJcEO8aAqIUEALw_wcB) ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/224 "2022-01-04T01:07:45Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > IANAL, but would the term “right” be appropriate here? Wouldn’t it simply be a matter of law? And if so: you can do anything you want as long as there’s no law against it. Our laws are restrictive, not permissive. > [@Moriarty](#): > > What an odd way at looking at the constitution and the laws. You have rights to do what you want unless and until you are prohibited by laws proscribing your conduct, not the other way around. There is no need for a law to allow a building owner, even a public building owner to set rules like “no food or drink” or “no recording devices.” Would either of you argue that you have a constitutional right to eat a hot dog in the DMV because no specific law or constitutional provision says otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/225 "2022-01-04T01:10:19Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Nobody would deny your right to take detailed written notes about an encounter with government officials. If a cop confiscated your notes and tore them up after such an encounter - or arrested you for attempting to write things down, or refusing to stop writing when so ordered - there’d be a righteous outcry. Why do some people want to treat video recording in a public place so differently? Because nobody walks into a government office building and hovers over the desk of an employee and starts furiously taking notes in a notepad. That is odd and unusual behavior and may have been addressed prior had it ever happened. The video gives that person with an ax to grind a much more powerful tool to do so, therefore now new policies have to address it. No policies are ever needed until they are. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/226 "2022-01-04T01:50:03Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > There is no need for a law to allow a building owner, even a public building owner to set rules like “no food or drink” or “no recording devices.” Would either of you argue that you have a constitutional right to eat a hot dog in the DMV because no specific law or constitutional provision says otherwise? What about building a strawman in the DMV office? We are talking specifically about _recording government workers performing their duties in public_. There are many who believe it is a peculiarity of the United States that monitoring the government in that fashion is a right protected by the Ninth Amendment or within the penumbra of the First Amendment. You talk about laws but many feel laws limiting recording government workers performing their duties in public are in fact unconstitutional and I believe case law regarding filming police in public supports that. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/227 "2022-01-04T01:52:01Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Because nobody walks into a government office building and hovers over the desk of an employee and starts furiously taking notes in a notepad. So you’re saying if they did it would be legal to destroy the notes as Machine Elf describes? Or are you just avoiding the legal question raised? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/228 "2022-01-04T02:08:11Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > We are talking specifically about _recording government workers performing their duties in public_ . What is “public”? On the street or in a building open to the public for a particular purpose? And there are surely limits. If the police pull a car over, certainly you would agree that I cannot stand there interviewing the officer and the driver. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > So you’re saying if they did it would be legal to destroy the notes as Machine Elf describes? Or are you just avoiding the legal question raised? It would be reviewed for rationality and it seems pretty irrational _right now_. But if it becomes an issue like with the First Amendment Auditors, then I see no problem with designating time, place, and manner for note taking. I understand that it is the government but that doesn’t mean that we individually own each component part. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/229 "2022-01-04T02:18:54Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > What is “public”? Isn’t it something along the lines of a place where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy? Standing at window 5 in the DMV 2 feet away (maybe 6 under Covid) from the people at windows 4 and 6 in front of the lobby does not lead to an expectation of privacy. I bet I could, with no great effort and without interfering with the work just by moving my seat, could find out what is going on at every window in my county’s DMV. I bet I could stand there in line at the county court clerk’s window and know what sort of case everyone in front of me is filing. Where is the expectation of privacy? The interviewing in the driver/LEO is another strawman as it is interfering with the police conducting an investigation and/or the police are allowed to have people move away for safety. The real analogy is could someone film my being stopped by a cop and the case law is very clear - yes they can so point against your argument. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/230 "2022-01-04T02:21:59Z")
Same here ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/231 "2022-01-04T02:29:06Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Where is the expectation of privacy? I never used the reasonable expectation of privacy argument. That is a confusion of two doctrines. I am talking about the power of a person in control of a building, even a public one, from saying “No recording devices permitted.” On a public street that would be a far tougher sell. But as I said, I can see of no personal right to film and harass government officials on the job. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The real analogy is could someone film my being stopped by a cop and the case law is very clear - yes they can so point against your argument. There is some case law that says that. But given that the police are allowed to put you in handcuffs and take you to jail for a minor traffic infraction ([Atwater v. City of Lago Vista - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atwater_v._City_of_Lago_Vista)) it seems to be one that it is contention with other powers. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/232 "2022-01-04T02:33:24Z")
To follow up, even short of a full blown arrest, a police officer can order you out of the car, order you to not put your hands in your pocket, can pat you down, etc. Where is it consistent that the police MUST allow you to hold a cell phone in your hand and shove it in their face? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/233 "2022-01-04T02:40:32Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > There is some case law that says that. But given that the police are allowed to put you in handcuffs and take you to jail for a minor traffic infraction What does that have to do with a filming the stop? > [@UltraVires](#): > > But as I said, I can see of no personal right to film and harass government officials on the job. When did I justify harrassing? Yet another strawman. > [@UltraVires](#): > > I am talking about the power of a person in control of a building, even a public one, from saying “No recording devices permitted.” Which is circular absent case law. If you say an area is not public because the owner (specifically a government) can say “No filming here”, the counter is **although they say they have that power** , they really don’t as it is unconstitutional (my claim). According to your definition, a cop has the power to make you stop filming him performing his duty in the street **just because he says he can**. Are you saying his pronouncement from on high makes it true? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/234 "2022-01-04T02:43:33Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Where is it consistent that the police MUST allow you to hold a cell phone in your hand and shove it in their face? Another strawman. The farmers must love you. Did I say the camera is shoved in their face? Did I even say the driver must be holding it? A) You can set it down and still have it record. B) A third person can record it. So are you saying if the driver is arrested the passenger can’t film it? A passerby can’t film it? It can’t be sitting on their dash recording? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/235 "2022-01-04T03:18:04Z")
Ultravries, what’s your take on _Iacobucci v. Boulter_? Was that hallway not-public because they told him to stop filming? What about _Smith v. City of Cumming_? “The First Amendment protects the right to gather information about what public officials do on public property" In this case I believe the public place was a public meeting that banned videotaping although I could be mistaken. If not, very similar to _Iacobucci._ What about wiretapping laws. Many are similar to this Florida Law > For an oral communication to be protected under 934.03(1)(a), the person recorded must have an > actual subjective expectation of privacy, along with a societal recognition that such expectation is > reasonable. The more public that a space is, the less likely that a court will view an expectation of privacy as reasonable. Do you still claim that expectation of privacy is not a determining factor in “public space” but that your definition is? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/236 "2022-01-04T03:33:32Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > What about wiretapping laws. Many are similar to this Florida Law You keep conflating these doctrines. I am not suggesting that filming in the DMV is illegal wiretapping. I am stating that it is a reasonable policy that the person in charge of rulemaking for the building can make because it is insulting and interferes with employees performing their duties, and it further allows for First Amendment Assholes to assert their pretend authority, much like Sov Cits. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/237 "2022-01-04T04:15:53Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I am stating that it is a reasonable policy that the person in charge of rulemaking for the building can make because it is insulting and interferes with employees performing their duties However interference is covered under under the _Glik_ case and whether or not being filmed “insults” you is immaterial. Neither one of those goes to the definition of if a lobby of a public building is public or private. And AGAIN those arguments can be used by cops on a city street except people have a constitutional right to film them. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/238 "2022-01-04T04:28:59Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Neither one of those goes to the definition of if a lobby of a public building is public or private. And again, it doesn’t matter. Why does the fact that the lobby is “public” give you the right to record anyone in the building despite the wishes of the person responsible for building policy? > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > And AGAIN those arguments can be used by cops on a city street except people have a constitutional right to film them. You keep saying this and some courts agree but it is by no means universal. Further a street is different than a lobby of a building. You are just stating how you, Saint Cad, wish things to be and have not justified how you have a constitutional right to film government officials, or anyone else, in the lobby of a public building. How does the First Amendment give you the right to film anything and everything so long as it is public? Criminal trials are public yet judges routinely bar recording devices. Public libraries bar the use of personal devices to copy materials (that are not otherwise subject to copyright). These grand right you assume would have many problems, is not supported by anything in the Constitution, and it allows these First Amendment Harassers to act with impunity. If the DMV clerk treats you poorly, then report her. Don’t shove a phone in her face and demand that you, as a taxpayer, deserve to have a glass of champagne while you wait for her to do your bidding. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/239 "2022-01-04T11:21:46Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Don’t shove a phone in her face and demand that you, as a taxpayer, deserve to have a glass of champagne while you wait for her to do your bidding. Stop putting “recording an interaction” together with “behaving like an entitled asshole with the intent of provoking a hostile response from government officials.” The latter is just cause for ejection from a government building; the former is not. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194/240 "2022-01-04T12:24:18Z")
Given that it was quoted above I’d like to amend my previous post: I’d glue my mouth shut and ask for my lawyer because I don’t know enough to know when I’d need one and when I wouldn’t, so better safe than sorry. An interesting (to me) offshoot of this is a concept I’ve seen in TV/movies: a person is brought in for questioning by the police and asks for their lawyer. Others then assume he/she is guilty because of this instead of smart. Why? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-ever-even-go-to-an-interrogation-room-with-the-police-like-even-with-your-lawyer/953194.md?page=13)