Greenfield, MA wishes to go another round with CopBlock. Beau Davis: "The law states that if I'm convicted, I'll be facing up to 5 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine."

SPRINGFIELD – Charging the amateur videographer who captured the alleged police beating of Melvin Jones lll during a 2009 traffic stop with illegal wiretapping sets a dangerous precedent, local activists say.

“I think it would be dangerous if this person were to be charged with a crime,” said the Rev. Talbert W. Swan, Springfield branch president of the NAACP. “It would say to the public that we don’t have the right to hold law enforcement accountable for their actions.”

The 2nd Circuit US Court of Appeals has ruled that recording an in-person conversation without the knowledge of all parties is only a violation of federal wiretapping law if the person making the recording intends to use the recording for illegal purposes. At least in the states that do not have explicit laws against recording cops, this should nullify the abuses of wiretapping laws against people recording in public.