An editorial begins:
How much leeway should law enforcement be granted to eavesdrop on citizens’ private conversations? That’s a question lawmakers on Beacon Hill will likely be grappling with this year. Legislation filed last week aims to update Massachusetts’ 1968 statute authorizing the use of wiretaps.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley was joined by some lawmakers, police chiefs and mayors this week in calling for the update. They claim that the 45-year-old wiretap law is antiquated and does not address modern communication devices like cell phones and the Internet.
But that argument is rather disingenuous. It turns out the existing law does, in fact, cover modern technology.
Read more in the Herald News.