Secret Service

Chicago: Cook County judge rules Illinois eavesdropping law unconstitutional

Ahead of the G-8 and NATO summits in Chicago in May, a county judge found that the state’s eavesdropping law was unconstitutional. The law makes it a felony to record any conversation without the consent of all parties and carries a penalty  of up to 15 years in prison if a police officer is recorded without his or her knowledge. -db From the Chicago Tribune, March 3, 2012, by Jason Meisner. Full story  

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Trespass bill threatens protest rights across the U.S.

In fashioning a bill to make it illegal to trespass on White House grounds, Congress extended the law to allow the government to prosecute protesters at political events across the country. Under the law approved by both houses of Congress, the prohibition on trespass extends to any building or grounds the president is visiting. -db From an editorial in RT,  February 29, 2012. Full  story  

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Los Angeles Times editorial sides with Secret Service in arrest of protesting man

When the U.S. Supreme Court decides the case of a protesting man arrested for laying a hand on then-Vice President Dick Cheney in a shopping mall in 2006, it will have to balance the man’s free speech rights against the need of the Secret Service to make difficult split-second decisions to protect life, in this case the life of the Vice President, without fear of being sued. A Los Angeles Times editorial argues that a

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U.S. Supreme Court accepts free speech case involving then Vice President Dick Cheney

A man who expressed his dislike of the Iraq war to then-Vice President Dick Cheney and was arrested for putting his hand on Cheney’s shoulder will have his First Amendment suit heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. The man claimed his arrest came about because of his political views. The Justice Department said Secret Service agents must be free to make instantaneous decisions without fear of  lawsuits. -db From CNN, December 5, 2011, by Bill

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