Are recording systems running in your conference rooms? Make sure you treat recordings responsibly and know your laws. Microphones can be very sensitive, picking up unintended conversations.
A courtroom in Stroudsburg, PA has a sensitive recording system in place, but Pennsylvania is one of the few (12) states that require that all parties must give their consent if a conversation is to be recorded. Comments from Judge Jennifer Sibum revealed that she had overheard private attorney conversations.
According to a source, the district attorney’s claims against Judge Jennifer Sibum surfaced from comments the judge made last month on the bench to lawyers in the courtroom who were present for a status conference, a routine court procedure. One of the lawyers in court Oct. 29, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the judge said she was “unhappy with some of the things she heard on these tapes.”
“She told us she had been listening to the tapes of the conversations of the district attorneys and defense counsel,” said the lawyer, who was among the lawyers addressed by Sibum. Within 48 hours, Sibum voluntarily requested that she stop hearing criminal cases, and restrict her caseload to civil cases, said Deborah Rivera, the deputy court administrator.
Sibum’s request came after the district attorney’s office filed a motion, one of two, suggesting “there might be a conflict of interest between the judge and the DA,” Rivera said.
In Pennsylvania, it is against the law to record conversations without the consent of both parties. Signs were later posted on courtroom doors stating, in part, “Audio equipment is sensitive and may record conversations throughout the courtroom. Please be aware your conversations in the courtroom may be recorded.”
Courtroom and conference room microphones are very sensitive and may be recording unintended conversations.