Court Strikes Down Illinois Eavesdropping Act, Opens Debate On Privacy In The Digital Age

In two landmark rulings that may prompt further examination of how our laws identify and protect privacy interests, the Illinois Supreme Court has found unconstitutional Illinois' long-standing electronic eavesdropping act.

The act is one of about a dozen so-called "two-party consent" eavesdropping statutes, meaning that they permit electronic recording of conversations only when all parties consent to the recording. Several other influential states, including California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maryland, have similar laws.

The two cases addressed by the Illinois court highlighted a major problem with strict-liability two-party consent eavesdropping laws — they criminalize citizen recordings of their interactions with police and other government officials. In one case, People v. Clark, the defendant recorded a court proceeding in which he took part. In the other, People v. Melongo, the defendant recorded telephone conversations with a court