Illinois Amends Eavesdropping Statute In Response To Recent Court Decisions

On March 20, 2014, the Illinois Supreme Court held that significant portions of the Illinois eavesdropping statute, 720 ILCS 5/14-1 et seq., (the Statute) violated the First Amendment. In People v. Clark, 2014 IL 115776, and People v. Melongo, 2014 IL 114852, the court held that the Statute was unconstitutionally overbroad because it prohibited the open recording of public conversations—an aspect of free speech—rather than merely protecting the privacy of non-public conversations, or "conversational privacy," a legitimate state concern. On December 30, 2014, then-Governor Pat Quinn signed into law an amendment to the Statute, PA 98-1142, (the Amendment) which narrowed the scope of the law in response to these decisions. The Amendment limits the Statute's scope, which includes both civil and criminal penalties, to the surreptitious recording of private conversations and electronic communications.