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February 4th, 2011 * For Immediate Release

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Dear Congressman _____________________,

I am asking you to support the reintroduction of H.Con.Res.298. There is a civil rights battle going on in America. Citizens are being told that our government (federal, state and local) can watch every aspect of our public lives but we cannot gather information we need about the public performance of our governments' agents to report this information to our fellow citizens or to even protect ourselves in court. As citizens in a democracy, we will not accept this state of affairs.

Technology is transforming our lives. The internet has taken over. TV and radio no longer dominate our methods of communication. The cell phone is ubiquitous. Cameras watch our every move in public, from shopping to riding the subway train, to walking down our public streets. Government software programs filter our e-mail and scan our phone calls for keywords. When we are stopped for traffic violations we are video and audio recorded. Technology has provided to every governmental level, unprecedented opportunities to document our public and private lives in ways we've never imagined.

Technology has allowed citizens to monitor our public servants in public, as well. In Chicago and other major urban areas, video and audio recordings have been used by alert citizens to capture police misconduct in public. From Rodney King to Oscar Grant, audio and video recordings have provided justice for citizens and have improved the performance of our public servants. Today, with everyone able to video and audio-record police in public, the illegal tactics some police have used for more than a century can no longer be denied. Police officers must now obey the law or be seen breaking it!

Many in our nation’s justice system resent this newfound ability of the public and they are pushing back. People who use photography and cell phone technology to record the public actions of public employees are being arrested without just cause and are often jailed. In a few states of our nation, it is even illegal for citizens to audio-record their own arrest in public by police. In Illinois and Massachusetts, laws that take advantage of a gap in 1st and 4th Amendment case law have made it illegal under their wiretapping laws for citizens to gather the audio evidence of what police say to them in public to protect themselves and others in court from police who lie on police reports and under oath. We are denied our right to gather this information to report back to our fellow citizens about how we are treated by police officers in public. This is a serious breach in our freedom.

This breach will not be tolerated by the American people. Just read the comments of the thousands of Americans as they react to the 1st class felony prosecution (punishable by imprisonment for 4–15 years) of artist C. Drew by the State of Illinois.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/22/artist-could-face-15-year_n_812596.html

He is a artist who was arrested on State Street in Chicago for selling art for $1 in an attempt to challenge the constitutionality of Chicago’s peddlers license and was later charged with a class 1 felony for audio-recording his own arrest for the misdemeanor of selling art in public. Selling art in public has been protected by the 1st Amendment (Bery v. City of New York, 97 F.3d 689 2nd Cir. 1996). Unfortunately, we are obviously not free in America and we must fight to re-gain our freedom. That we will do.

His story has now become an international story. It is apparent to all that Illinois is using their eavesdropping law to silence a creative critic. Artists and bloggers from around the internet are taking up this issue. Illinois is the worst violator of citizen rights in this nation due to its felony prosecution of citizens who gather information on what police say to them in public. The ACLU is attempting to change the Illinois eavesdropping law and is looking for a judicial solution. Several state Senators are investigating Illinois’ eavesdropping law with the intent to propose changes to amend this law and to help Illinois join 47 other states in our nation that do not make audio-recording police in public a crime.

I am writing concerning what you can do to influence wiretapping and eavesdropping laws before more citizens suffer similar treatment in America. If you do not act now, legislatures in other states may expand the use of such laws to deny more and more citizens their basic rights. Police in many more locations will take advantage the present lack of leadership on this issue to abuse citizens who document their public actions.

In the last session of Congress, Adolphus Towns introduced H.Con.Res.298 and it languished in the Judiciary Committee. We need you to help re-introduce this bill and to help move it forward toward passage. H.Con.Res.298 will encourage the judiciary in our nation to set case law to protect citizens’ rights to verify whether police personnel and other public officials are performing in accordance with the law as well as performing according to the standards that we, the public, set for them. H.Con.Res.298 covers the issue of audio-recording police in public and helps to establish our right to photograph, video and audio record police and public officials in public. Help us to improve our government and to participate effectively in our democracy.

Thank you for reading this letter. I will contact you soon to find out if you will help us to make America a freer America, with justice for all its citizens.

Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Address
Your Phone number

-30-

C Drew * E-mail cdrew@c-drew.com * Ph.773/678-7545 * P.O. Box 608081, Chicago, IL 60626