laws reguarding phone taps

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SmokeTrails

Bluelighter
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Nov 10, 2003
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i know the laws have changed because of the patriot act.. how do they work now? also have search laws changed? do they very for states? CA and FL?
 
wiretap laws are pretty much federal thanks to supreme court intervention back in the day... states can have their own laws, but they cannot circumvent the supreme court decisions on the matter- so the federal standards are, in general, the law of the land.

the nsa/fbi wiretapping activity as of late is under judicial oversight, but has not ceased- so overseas communication is still potentially tapped... communication with someone who communicates overseas could bring you into some overlap... although i question the total capacity of the domestic wiretapping initiative. as far as person-to-person tapping, as long as an individual involved in the conversation is aware that the conversation is being recorded it's pretty kosher... if it is a third party not involved in the conversation they are breaking the law- only law enforcement/feds get to play that game.

search and seizure hasn't changed really so far as i'm aware... don't agree to anything, don't say anything outside of identifying information, all the normal rules apply... warrants are still necessary and the grounds behind them must be solidified by prosecution if things go to trial. unless you're a terror suspect, then you're simply fuqd.
 
brothermarcus said:
wiretap laws are pretty much federal...as far as person-to-person tapping, as long as an individual involved in the conversation is aware that the conversation is being recorded it's pretty kosher.
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It's important to distinguish between who is recording the conversation. If we're talking a private party, then the above quote is not true in every state! California, for example, requires that ALL parties to the conversation be aware they are being recorded. Violation is a wobbler, which means it can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor. (See California Penal Code Section 631.) Furthermore, the California Supreme Court has held that this California law applies to any person in any state conducting a telephone call with a party in California (See Kelly Kearney, et al v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc. (2006).)

11 other states also require ALL parties to be informed the conversation is being recorded.

Now, there are exceptions for state and federal government agencies investigating criminal activity, including exceptions which do not require a court order if one party to the conversation is informed of the recording (such as a government informant). I assume this is what you are referring to, but I want to make sure any private parties reading this thread don't misinterpret it to mean they can record conversations on their own without checking the state laws. The exceptions only apply to government.

This appears to be a very good website for state-by-state telephone recording laws, but you should verify anything it says independently: http://www.rcfp.org/taping/

This appears to be a good page for those concerned with the government's ability to record their phone calls: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs9-wrtp.htm
 
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i was actually refering to police taping phones... i wasnt aware that it was against the law the record phone conversations tho lol...

so for police to tap a phone they need to have federal permission and thats hard to get as long as your not a terror suspect?
 
We'll put it this way...

After being arrested, the FBI officer interrogating me quoted something I said in a phone conversation between myself and my co-defendant on our cell phones somewhere between a month and 2 months prior to my arrest.

According to the Patriot act - this is illegal because both ends of the call were located within the US.

It's another one of those things I put in my letter to my lawyer of "stuff to check into" that I haven't gotten a response on.

I left him a message earlier today - nothing yet... it's been about 5 hours.

Now... I understand that he could be busy.
I understand that he has other cases.

But... I'm ranting and getting off topic. n/m
Basically - they can and DO tap phones illegally.
We'll see what happens with the evidence they acquired from the phone calls...

If it's admitted, I'm going to throw a fit.

On the other hand, they don't need the phone calls to prosecute...
Still, it's wrong and I'm going to rant about it.
 
here's one thing we're all forgetting. remember a few years ago when they ran the anti-drug campains stating that if you buy or sell drugs you're supporting terrorism? ok. well if you're caught up in any kind of drug investigation then you can, in the eyes of the law, be supporting terrorism which enables the gov't, whether federal or locally, to monitor you and watch tap your calls. the gov't is shady as hell and even sneakier. they let us all know that drugs supposedly support terrorism and that opened the gates for them even further. i can easily get off subject on this stuff but this isn't a free country, people. we're always being watched.
 
Kid E tard said:
why didn'y my reply work? phooey
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Heheheh =P

It worked... it's just slow... and an admin has to approve it.

Your link didn't show up though...
I'd say go back and edit that post...

Dunno if that bypasses the mods or not...

And... don't tell me that stuff about terrorism. That's not cool :(

It's gonna completely invalidate my argument about them tapping my phone without a warrant :(
 
ok, went back and put the links in this time. sorry everyone!
sorry to knock down your next words man. lol. just research some of this stuff and see what's really going on. never hurts to know what to watch out for. once i'm a bluelighter we can talk in PM about some stuff if you want. nothing drug related, don't worry mods. =p
 
<//==-- bluelighter!!
YaY!!! i'm officially a somebody now. ha! i've been on this site for a while but never bothered to post. just like pillreports. been on it for years but never posted. it was finally time to share some education!
 
Kid E tard said:
<//==-- bluelighter!!
YaY!!! i'm officially a somebody now. ha! i've been on this site for a while but never bothered to post. just like pillreports. been on it for years but never posted. it was finally time to share some education!
Click to expand...



Congrats!

Now... COME BACK!!! :p
 
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