Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Eric Holder & Company...

...finally get one right:

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has urged a federal court to side with a Howard County man in a lawsuit over his cellphone being seized by Baltimore police at the Preakness Stakes after he filmed officers making an arrest.

The federal attorneys say the lawsuit “presents constitutional questions of great moment in this digital age.” They asked U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg to rule that citizens have a right to record police officers and that officers who seize and destroy recordings without a warrant or due process are violating the Fourth and 14th Amendments.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, which is representing the plaintiff, Christopher Sharp, said it believes this is the first time the Department of Justice has weighed in on the topic of recording police.


Holder must really be trying to make up for Fast & Furious. This will piss off cops and police departments all over the country.

h/t Radley Balko.

1 comment:

Rev. Paul said...

"This will piss off cops and police departments all over the country."

Okay by me. Most of them could use a little taking-down.