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Michael Allison, the 41-year old Illinois mechanic who faced life in jail for recording police officers, has had all charges against him dropped after a state judge ruled that his First Amendment rights had been violated, following a trend of similar rulings across the country that underscore the fact that it is not illegal to film cops.
Originally posted by Daemonicon
This is indeed great news. I was following this case, and was interested in how it turned out. What kind of message do the towns/state send when they seperate the LEOs from the citizens they are meant to protect. We either ALL follow the rules, or none, can't have it so double tiered.
Also, to contribute, here is another website that reported this story.
www.rcfp.org...
Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
I'm not sure this was such a good thing, actually. I don't believe a jury would have convicted this guy, regardless. I've rarely ever heard a better example for jury nullification. However, by simply dropping all charges, they get themselves a do-over. This guy's nightmare is over, but they can do this again to the next guy when the media may not have their pencils quite as sharp as they did this time. It might have been better to see this ridiculous charge taken the distance and put down formally in a court, as it needs to be.
Originally posted by MysticPearl
Isn't the next step for this guy filing a suit against the department which arrested him in the first place? When these cases are thrown out, these people need to turn around and file a suit against the department responsible for the arrest. The fact it was thrown out, would only help.
Originally posted by smurfy
The simple fact is that videoing police pretty much cramps their style, which all to often is trashy and subjective bullying. I do not see that all police commands, or their actions should be sacrosanct, either here or in the US. No surprise that after the London riots, when politicians started talking about bringing in a American officer to advise on rioting, a leading police officer, Sir Hugh Orde, said thanks but no thanks.