Adam "Ademo" Mueller, co-host of radio show Free Talk Live and founder of CopBlock.org, was found guilty Monday of illegal wiretapping and sentenced to three months in jail.
Mueller was found guilty of secretly recording conversations with Manchester police Capt. Jonathan Hopkins, Manchester High School West Principal MaryEllen McGorry and school secretary Denise Michael without their consent. The recordings were Mueller's response to an incident last October, when video surfaced of 17-year-old Frank W. Harrington being lifted from his seat in the New Hampshire school's cafeteria by a school police officer and slammed face-first into a table.
The student, who said he was "just messing around" with his sister, was suspended for 12 days and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. When Mueller became aware of the incident, he took to CopBlock.org to defend Harrington and Michael Proulx, the student behind the video. CopBlock.org is an online project that, according to its site, seeks police accountability and "curtail the all-too-common rights-violations and unaccountability that today exists."
Mueller called the local police and school officials searching for answers, but chose to record the conversations -- and included soundbites in a video post. A few months later, he was charged with three felony counts of wiretapping, each of which carried a seven-year maximum penalty.
"The defendant doesn't want to follow the law and he's essentially asking you to join him in not following the law," Valentine told jurors Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Still, Mueller pleaded his case, noting that he "didn't cause them any harm -- physical or otherwise," adding that he called the officials while they were at their public jobs. He sought "jury nullification" of the state's wiretapping law, which bars recording without consent.
New Hampshire recently passed a jury nullification law that permits defense attorneys to inform jurors of their right to vote on conscience and void bad laws through "not guilty" verdicts.
"I don't regret what I did," Mueller said. "I don't think jails were built for people who make phone calls or chalk buildings." He added that jail time would not prevent him from continuing his activism.
Republican state Rep. Mark Warden attended the hearing, later telling AP that prosecuting Mueller was "a travesty and a total waste of taxpayer dollars," adding that the case should push the Legislature to overhaul the vague wiretapping law to boost public official accountability.
So let me get this straight, this person says we should allow for wiretapping without a warrant and without the knowledge of the people involved?
Nothing possibly bad could come of that.
That's what you got from that story?!?
Wiretapping makes me think of tapping someone else's phone, not recording my own converstions to uncover corrupt school officials and police brutality.
Recording your phone conversations is considered wiretapping under the law?
You cannot record a phone call without someone's permission.
Is that really that obscure knowledge? Like every time you call virtually any larger company with an automated attendant, the recording says "This call may be monitored or recorded for training or quality of service reasons".
They are not saying it for their health.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger
That's what you got from that story?!?
Wiretapping makes me think of tapping someone else's phone, not recording my own converstions to uncover corrupt school officials and police brutality.
And yes, Mueller is trying to overturn that law, so that is what I got out of the article.
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"Wake up, Luigi! The only time plumbers sleep on the job is when we're working by the hour."
Not the fact that he uncovered a corrupt school official and police brutality on a minor. Those were the things I got out of the article.
Well the OP and thread topic, and the majority of the article were discussing his arrest, which was for violation of the wiretapping law. I am sure his allegations about the assault are likely well founded, hut the fact that he broke the law to prove it, seemed to overshadow that
As for the naming of the law, or having that law cover both tapping yours or another persons phone to record conversations without them being aware, I am not sure why t here is an issue. The 2 things are identical in many ways.
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"Wake up, Luigi! The only time plumbers sleep on the job is when we're working by the hour."
Well the OP and thread topic, and the majority of the article were discussing his arrest, which was for violation of the wiretapping law. I am sure his allegations about the assault are likely well founded, hut the fact that he broke the law to prove it, seemed to overshadow that
As for the naming of the law, or having that law cover both tapping yours or another persons phone to record conversations without them being aware, I am not sure why t here is an issue. The 2 things are identical in many ways.
And that's the unfortunate part. I think the end totally justifies the means in this case and I can't believe that this guy is actually getting into trouble for outing these pieces of trash (am I allowed to call a cop a piece of trash if he beat up a kid?).
You cannot record a phone call without someone's permission.
Is that really that obscure knowledge? Like every time you call virtually any larger company with an automated attendant, the recording says "This call may be monitored or recorded for training or quality of service reasons".
They are not saying it for their health.
As far as obscure knowledge goes, I live in Canada, and I just assumed the majority of the people on here are also Canadian, and it isn't illegal here to record a phone conversation you are having. If you're talking with someone, and you yourself know the conversation is being recorded, it is perfectly legal to do so without the other person knowing. It's illegal for a 3rd-party to eavesdrop, though, and obviously companies differ in some respects because of the information they collect from you.
My post was about it being called "wiretapping" in the US, though.
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"An adherent of homeopathy has no brain. They have skull water with the memory of a brain."
Adam Mueller, CopBlock.org Founder, Sentenced For Reporting School Police Brutality
