The Wire­tap law in Mary­land exists to pro­tect society’s right to pri­vacy by pro­tect­ing con­ver­sa­tions we engage in, think­ing that we know who can hear us. All laws, how­ever worded, carry with them the poten­tial to be mis­used, to crim­i­nal­ize activ­ity unin­tended by the leg­is­la­tors. The Mary­land Wire­tap law has been the focus of media atten­tion recently because of efforts of police offi­cers to use the Wire­tap law to crim­i­nal­ize video­tap­ing police inter­ac­tions. This is an inap­pro­pri­ate appli­ca­tion of the cur­rent law that does noth­ing to fur­ther the pub­lic pol­icy inter­est in pri­vacy. Fur­ther­more, such an appli­ca­tion of the Mary­land Wire­tap law goes against the inter­est soci­ety has in being able to super­vise the police.

Read more »