House Bill 2400 will make PA the #1 state in citizen wiretapping.
Harrisburg, PA - A bill that would update the state’s wiretap law has some wondering if Pennsylvania is helping its law enforcement agencies track criminals or lowering expectations of privacy.
The state House passed House Bill 2400 on Wednesday afternoon with a 145-to-52 vote.
The bill amends Act 18, commonly known as the Wiretap Act, by broadening the legal circumstances under which civilians can record oral communication without consent, and how recordings can be used as evidence in the criminal court system, among around a dozen new provisions and updates.
Despite some provisions designed to help law enforcement agencies do their jobs, Democratic and Republican legislators voiced concern about how additional changes in the act could lead to problems down the road.
One such change is allowing audio recording without consent from those being recorded if notice of possible recording is posted somewhere, like a student handbook or on a bulletin board.
State Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, said the commonwealth would become the No. 1 state in citizen wiretapping if the legislation passes.
Among the provisions designed to help law enforcement are:
Allowing law enforcement to receive a warrant to wiretap a person, rather than a phone line, to continue tracing suspects who may be ditching a cell phone to keep away from police;
Permitting wiretaps from other jurisdictions to be used as evidence in Pennsylvania trials.
The Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union opposed the bill during its three-week journey through the House, focusing on five of the 12 provisions.
The chapter’s legislative director, Andy Hoover, said several provisions threaten the expectation of privacy of law-abiding citizens.
Hoover said the bill’s language could lead to people spying on each other without basis, going on fishing expeditions for information under the guises of confessing. It’s too broad, and a proposal to narrow it down supported by the ACLU was shot down, he said.
“This potentially opens the door to political opponents recording their enemies, however they can, in an attempt to catch them in something,” Hoover said. “There will be extremists who could use this to get more recordings than they can get right now.”
http://paindependent.com/2012/06/pa-house-passes-updates-to-wiretap-act/