Local Blogger; Wiretapping Trial

Well today is the day we find out the results of local blogger Billy Burke publisher of the Pocomoke Tattler wiretapping charges.

While the trial has been put-off and postponed several times Mr. Burke will today finally know his fate.

The trial was finally set to be a jury trial after the state bussed in a out-of-town judge that would hear the case.

On the Maryland Judicial Case search site Mr Burke's trial again has changed from a "Criminal Jury Trial", to a "Criminal Non-Jury Trial" holding the same date.

Event Type:	Criminal Jury TrialNotice Date:
Event Date:	11/02/2009Event Time:09:30 AM
Result:	Postponed/ResetResult Date:10/22/2009

---

Event Type:	Criminal Non-Jury TrialNotice Date:
Event Date:	01/05/2010Event Time:09:30 AM
Result:	Result Date:

Mr. Burke was accused of "illegally recording" the Mayor of Pocomoke during the time that Mrs. Burke had been running for a council seat in Pocomoke and after publishing an out of context clip (posted below for you to hear) of the recording on his blog The Pocomoke Tattler.



The events that followed turned their life upside-down including a "raid" of their home where the PCPD collected most anything electronic that the Burke's owned and possesed, computers, cameras, recording devises, etc.

Charge and Disposition Information

(Each Charge is listed separately. The disposition is listed below the Charge)

Charge No:

1CJIS Code:1 5705Statute Code:CJ.10.402

Charge Description:

Wiretapping

Offense Date From:	03/27/2009To: 03/27/2009
Arrest Tracking No:	08-1002-04545-6Citation:
Charge Amend No:	0Sentence Version:0Charge Class:

Disposition

Plea:	Plea Date:
Disposition:	Disposition Date:

This case surely lacks in any prosecution;
1st the recording was made in a public place. (hearsay)
2nd Mr. Burke (IMHO) did not receive a "speedy trial" while the state (for whatever reason) was looking to find an out-of-town robe.

Now of course I'm not an attorney, but I did study and make many phone calls on Mr Burke's behalf in relation to Marylands "wiretapping" laws and if all accounts are accurate he will be acquitted today. (and I did stay at Holiday Inn)

Yes it is immoral, unethical, and just not a nice thing to do while your 'mark' is unaware they are being recorded in what 'they' think to be a private conversation no matter where that conversation takes place. BUT... is it illegal?

We shall see.

Can the law keep up with technology?

In a case that would have been impossible even five years ago, bad-girl rocker Courtney Love is being sued for libel by a fashion designer for allegedly slamming the woman on Twitter.

The suit claims that after a disagreement over what Love should pay Dawn Simorangkir for the clothes she designed, Love posted allegedly derogatory and false comments about the designer -- among them that she had a "history of dealing cocaine" -- on her now-discontinued Twitter feed.

But as technology evolves faster than the laws that govern free speech online, it's not just the famous who are finding trouble.

Consider the case of Amanda Bonnen and her former landlord. Bonnen, an Illinois resident, is accused of using Twitter to tell another user: "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon Realty thinks it's okay."

Horizon Group Management LLC, the company that owned the apartment in question, sued Bonnen for libel over the alleged tweet. Horizon is seeking $50,000 in damages.

Legal experts say such Internet-related cases are being watched closely because they confront new and unaddressed areas of American law.

For example, how should a libel case be handled when it comes to social media? How can society balance accountability with free speech? And if information -- from private thoughts to public data -- is so readily available, how do we define what constitutes privacy?

Anonymity and immunity

In August 2008, a user of Blogger.com, a Google subsidiary, created "Skanks in NYC."

The blog assailed Liskula Cohen, 37, a Canadian-born cover girl who has appeared in Vogue and other fashion magazines, by featuring photos of Cohen captioned with derogatory terms.

Cohen sued Google to learn the name of the anonymous blogger on the grounds that the post was defamatory and libelous. A New York Supreme Court judge ordered Google to reveal the anonymous blogger's name, and Google complied.

The case provided insight into the debate between the competing values of privacy and free speech, said Jeffrey Toobin, CNN's senior legal analyst.

"You have a robust debate on a million different subjects every day on the Internet," he said. "But on the other hand, is that a license to damage people's reputation with knowing falsehood?"

The courts are trying to strike a balance between the two, Toobin said.

"There have been a lot of cases about trying to get behind the anonymity of the Internet," he said. "What the courts are ... saying is that you have to show good reason, you can't just frivolously ask."

Nicholas Thompson of Wired magazine said such cases make it clear that anonymity on the Web does not necessarily guarantee a measure of immunity.

"The more people learn about it, the more they're going to realize that laws do apply online," he said.

More HERE from CNN

Young student refuses to recite Pledge "Liberty and justice for all?"

Notice in the video that the news reporter is all smiles and seams very happy that this young man has defied the patriotism that should be instilled in ever young American.

If he were my child he would say the Pledge, you can bet on that.

he also says he wants to be a "lawyer" no surprise there.

Will Phillips doesn't believe that describes America for its gay and lesbian citizens. He's a 10-year-old at West Fork Elementary School in Arkansas, about three hours east of Oklahoma City. Given his beliefs, he refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, specifically because that one phrase, "liberty and justice for all," he says, does not truly apply to all.

That did not go over well with the substitute teacher in his fifth-grade classroom.

The Arkansas Times reports that he started refusing to say the pledge Mon., Oct. 5. By Thursday, the substitute was steamed. She told Will she knew his mother and grandmother and they would want him to recite the pledge.

Will told the Times the substitute got more and more upset. She raised her voice. By this point, Will told the newspaper, he started losing his cool too, adding: "After a few minutes, I said, 'With all due respect ma'am, go jump off a bridge.'"

That got him sent to the principal's office. The principal made him look up information about the flag and what it represents. Meanwhile, there was the inevitable call to his mother.

At first, mom Laura Phillips told the Times, the principal talked about Will telling a substitute to jump off a bridge. When pressed, the principal admitted the whole incident was sparked by the boy exercising his constitutional right not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Phillips suggested an apology was in order -- from the teacher. When the principal said that wasn't necessary, Will's mother started venting to friends via Twitter. Those friends, in turn, told the news media. And what would have been a minor classroom incident has people throughout Arkansas and beyond choosing sides.

As for Will, he continues to exercise his right to remain silent. It can be rough at times, he and his family admit. He has his share of supporters, however, his critics are louder and nastier -- especially because he took his stand to defend gay rights.

"In the lunchroom and in the hallway, they've been making comments and doing pranks, calling me gay," he told the Times. "It's always the same people, walking up and calling me a gaywad."

Nonetheless, Will told the paper, he is sticking to his convictions. A reporter for the paper asked Will -- with all this talk about patriotism and the pledge -- what he thinks it means to be an American.

"Freedom of speech," he responded. "The freedom to disagree. That's what I think pretty much being an American represents."

His mother is proud.

"He's probably more aware of the meaning of the pledge that a lot of adults," Phillips told the Times.

Arrested Blogger; Seized Computers Returned

A blogger was arrested earlier this year and their equipment was seized during a raid of the home, all equipment that could be connected to the internet was confiscated and after months just recently returned. Albeit a bit messy at least they have their stuff back.

Although every piece was adorned with highly adhesive evidence tape and marker the blogger was happy that the items even were returned in one piece.

This has been a very controversial situation from the day the troops stormed the bloggers home and snatched their belongings. Why so? Because the blogger posted 'public information' .... information that anyone can access VIA the internet or simply by their eyes while in public.

Is this the beginning of an attack on our freedom of speech? The blogger was made to remove the public information from their blog but the same information is throughout the internet for all that wishes to see.

Below is a snip and a couple of pictures.







It seems every time anyone in law enforcement did anything with it, they slapped on a new icky sticky strip and initialed it. With a dang Sharpie!


My laptop was not spared the wrath of the everlasting black marker either.

Read the rest of the story HERE
Then HERE