Boston pays $170k to settle cell phone recording lawsuit

[Lloyd Danforth]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/03/boston-pays-170k-to-settle-cell-phone-recording-lawsuit.ars

The City of Boston has agreed to pay Simon Glik $170,000 in damages and legal fees to settle a civil rights lawsuit. Glik was arrested in 2007 on Boston Common for using his cell phone to record the arrest of another man. Police then arrested Glik, too, and charged him under the strict Massachusetts wiretapping statute. They eventually dropped the charges, but with the help of the Massachusetts ACLU, Glik filed a civil lawsuit against the city for false arrest.

[KBCraig]

The prosecutors and police tried to ignore Glick, until it cost them money.

Worth noting: the ruling said that police do not have immunity, because the right to record is so well established in the 1st U.S. District. That means you can go after their houses and pensions, not just taxpayer dollars.

Anyhoo, The NH Attorney Genital timed this well:

http://freekeene.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/glick.pdf

[Russell Kanning]

wiretapping is an exclusive right of the state of mass.