<i>Illinois law is tough on citizens who "eavesdrop."</i><p>The fact that Illinois traditionally has some of the most corrupt politicians (and, some might argue, school officials) in the country has absolutely no correlation to tough laws on recording conversations, I'm sure.
This used to happen around recordings of cops as well. I believe the solution was to require cops to wear body cams. Perhaps consider proposing legislation that school staff, admin and others must wear a body cam when interacting with children.
It really makes you wonder what kind of adults are supposedly taking care our kids. If a principal thinks it is ok to give a 13 year old a felony for such a minor incident, how else are they punishing these children?
Can't anyone be charged with anything? Convictions matter, not charges which could easily be tossed out once they are in front of a judge.<p>Reason.com's article here links to some illinoispolicy.org[1] as the 'original source', and illinoispolicy.org does not provide any citations. The rest of the articles on that site lead me to believe that they are fearmongering and not reporting.<p>It's blogspam all the way down.<p>1. <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-13-year-old-charged-with-eavesdropping-felony-for-recording-meeting-with-principal/" rel="nofollow">https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-13-year-old-charged-...</a>
I wonder if there is a case to be made here that there is implied consent by working in a building that monitors its occupants. The article says that the "public areas" are video recorded, so staff know that they will be recorded throughout the day. Also, does the school need consent on file for all students as well?
I would think since the Principal is a government official and the recording took place in a government owned building that the 13-year old in question would be covered under the first amendment concerning freedom of the press. Why does it matter whether the conversation was taken note of in a journal or a tape recorder? The kid wasn't eavesdropping, he was part of the conversation. I would really like to see the supreme court rule on a case like this.