Chicago State's Attorney Lets Bad Cops Slide, Prosecutes Citizens Who Record Them by Radley Balko Radley.Balko@huffingtonpost.com

Excerpt--
"When Allison was eventually charged with violating the zoning ordinance, he asked for a court reporter to ensure there would be a record of his trial. He was told that misdemeanor charges didn't entitle him to a court reporter. So Allison told court officials he'd be recording his trial with a digital recorder.

"When Allison walked into the courtroom the day of his trial, the judge had him arrested for allegedly violating her right to privacy. Police then confiscated Allison's digital recorder, where they also found the recordings he'd made of his conversations with cops.

"Allison Has No Prior Criminal Record. If Convicted, He Faces Up To 75 Years In Prison." [Caps mine for emphasis]

Complete column, if you're interested, at-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/chicago-district-attorney-recording-bad-cops_n_872921.html?icid=maing-grid7|netscape|dl1|sec1_lnk1|69598

If the facts are as the author states, I believe this is wrong-headed on two counts. Folks should be able to have an audio/visual record of their encounters with law enforcement...law enforcement has that tool to use, so fair is fair. And even if the the law itself is valid, the potential punishment is way out of line! Armed robbery and other violent crimes often are less punishable. I believe the potential prison sentence is actually a way to keep such a defendant from protecting his rights. This is truly a case of the punishment being cruel and unusual for a non-violent iffy crime.