CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporting Police Brutality

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by kevinalexbrown on Sunday August 05, 2012 @06:36PM (#4342897)

While "crowdsourced" reporting is kind of cool, this report strikes me as an example of that idea gone awry. It took some googling to find a reasonable account, from the Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press[0]. This would, if anything, be biased toward Mr. Mueller, but it put the above article in an entirely different light.

1) As others have pointed out, he's on trial for allegedly recording three telephone calls to the police, a school principal, and a school secretary, without the consent of all parties, then made them publicly available. This is a felony under NH law. The iReport article implies, via quotations from multiple sources, that Mr. Mueller is on trial for filming police brutality. In fact, it appears that he called these parties for comment, so this doesn't even seem to be an issue of the right to record your arrest, or interested interactions with the state.

2) CopBlock.org and other "citizen watch" type sites might be a great idea, but performances like Mr. Mueller's, who apparently insists on the court calling him "Ademo Freeman", says things like "Bring on the Circus", and represents himself in a criminal case just paint these movements in a bad light. Police brutality, over-reaching state authority, etc. might be big problems; this kind of misguided moral crusade does not help.

3) I can understand the frustration supporters might find with inconsistent applications of wiretapping laws: I am not sure the state would care if a random citizen made three phone calls public, if no one pressed charges or there weren't some other reason. This article in no way communicates any of these issues and instead implements a tirade of misdirection and indignation.

Finally, I'd like to say something in defense of professional journalists. I know they often get a bad rap as being either extensions of the state vying for "influence" or sensationalists chasing controversy in every corner, but reports like this make me appreciate journalists who:

- call for comment - search for credible sources, preferably ones with opposing viewpoints - read or link to actual court documents

EDIT: You can find the video where he publishes the recordings here: http://youtu.be/sEhFwI6IyMU . Both the principal and the police officer made it reasonably clear they did not wish to discuss the matter. While the principal did respond to Mueller's questions, it seems unlikely she implied any consent to record.

[0]http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/nh-blogg...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by mcantelon on Sunday August 05, 2012 @06:43PM (#4342916)

You're correct that the facts in this story have been distorted and the guy sounds like he's antagonizing authorities to some degree, but that being said there really should be outrage about this case. Facing a possible 21 years for recording conversations with public officials is not something one would normally associate with a free country. It's highly unlikely he'd be facing these charges if he wasn't an activist that embarrassed the police.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by DigitalJack on Sunday August 05, 2012 @08:44PM (#4343232)

Are you suggesting the wiretap laws shouldn't be applicable if the uninformed end of the conversation is a public official?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by mcantelon on Sunday August 05, 2012 @09:05PM (#4343278)

I don't think one party recording a conversation they're in with another party should be considered wiretapping in general, and especially not if one party is a public official. Public officials' actions affect people's lives and shielding their communication and actions from scrutiny reduces their accountability.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by MrVitaliy on Sunday August 05, 2012 @09:59PM (#4343394)

"Under United States federal law and most state laws there is nothing illegal about one of the parties to a telephone call recording the conversation, or giving permission for calls to be recorded or permitting their telephone line to be tapped. However, several states (e.g., California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington) require that all parties consent when one party wants to record a telephone conversation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws

Too bad he's in New Hampshire, otherwise him being one of the party aware of recording the conversation would make the recording perfectly legal.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by MrVitaliy on Monday August 06, 2012 @12:28AM (#4343725)

His lawyers can probably blow this out of state (internet being an inter-state medium, appeals and maybe even supremacy clause) where federal law will take precedence over the state law. This case will be a waste of time, money and government resources and a circus nonetheless.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by sp332 on Monday August 06, 2012 @01:57PM (#4346302)

You realize that can't happen right? He's been accused of breaking the law of the state he lives in. That won't change if the case gets appealed to federal courts.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by monkeypizza on Sunday August 05, 2012 @09:49PM (#4343372)

Having laws which are only enforced against people you don't like is unfair. Laws should be like trademarks, if they're not vigorously enforced, then they should lose force.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by cookingrobot on Sunday August 05, 2012 @10:49PM (#4343489)

I like that principle. I often wonder how we can sunset old bad laws, and this sounds like a good approach. Either enforce the laws, or lose them.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by mikeash on Monday August 06, 2012 @09:12AM (#4345016)

I think he's suggesting that two decades in prison is an unreasonable punishment for violating those laws.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by revelation on Sunday August 05, 2012 @08:38PM (#4343213)

I'm with you on the disgust for these Assange-personas, but what he did should not be illegal.

He was talking to public servants over a line owned by the state. He was specifically contacting them because of their respective roles in public departments. He was contacting them to talk about things that fall squarely into their responsibilities as public servants.

Public servants have no expectation of privacy in fulfilling their duties, why should it be different when you talk to them over the phone about said duties?

So yes, these wiretapping laws need to go.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by retrogradeorbit on Monday August 06, 2012 @06:59AM (#4344683)

So when you tap the states phones against the law, its 21 years in jail. When the state taps your phones against the law, it's retroactive immunity! And then fully funded programmes tapping all phones, everywhere!

Doesn't quite seem fair to me.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:CopBlock.org Founder Faces 21 Years in Prison for Reporti... by andrewfelix on Sunday August 05, 2012 @06:57PM (#4342944)

I agree, particularly with your last point. While I feel for this guys plight, his actions could make legitimate journalistic practices more difficult.

[ Parent | on HN ]