Eavesdrop law’s demise means loss of privacy

Criminal Convictions

By Marc D. Falkoff

Marc D. Falkoff is an associate professor at Northern Illinois University College of Law, where he teaches and writes about criminal law and procedure. He can be reached at mfalkoff@niu.edu.

Posted April 17, 2014 2:39 PM

Last month, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down a key provision of our state’s anti-eavesdropping laws. The high court held in a pair of cases that it’s unconstitutional to punish someone as a felon simply for audio recording a conversation without consent. The court’s rulings in People v. Melongo and People v. Clark are already being celebrated as victories for free speech and the First Amendment, and it’s not hard to see why. The defendants were accused of recording (and in one case …

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