Illinois Supreme Court Strikes Down State Eavesdropping Statute

The Illinois Supreme Court recently declared unconstitutional a state law criminalizing the recording of conversations without the consent of all parties.  However, significant risks remain for companies and individuals in Illinois who secretly record conversations.

The Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled that the Illinois eavesdropping statute (the Statute) was unconstitutional on its face, in opinions in People v. Clark, 2014 IL 1097190, and People v. Melongo, 2014 IL 114852, issued simultaneously on March 20, 2014. The court held that the Statute was unconstitutionally overbroad because it prohibited the recording of all conversations, including ones where the parties had no reasonable expectations of privacy. The effect of this ruling is that Illinois currently does not have an enforceable state law criminalizing the recording of conversations without the consent of all parties.