The Michigan Supreme Court yesterday heard a case involving Dr. Dre, Eminem and the importance of being able to record cops on duty (h/t Radley Balko):
The court plans to hear arguments today in a lawsuit by a Detroit councilman and others who say they were illegally videotaped backstage at a 2000 concert at Joe Louis Arena.
Gary Brown was a police official at the time. He warned concert organizers that power would be turned off if they showed a sexually explicit video. The confrontation was taped and later included in a DVD of the “Up In Smoke” tour, featuring Eminem and others.
Brown says his privacy was violated by the video. Dr. Dre lawyer Herschel Fink says there’s no privacy when police are doing their job. Dr. Dre is a defendant but won’t be attending the Supreme Court arguments.
There’s no better time to revisit the arguments made by David Rittgers, Clark Neily and Radley Balko on why citizens and police themselves will be better served by allowing citizens (and requiring police) to record the most intense police/citizen interactions.
