Rhode Island
From LibertyActivism
Wiretapping law
Any person who intercepts, attempts to intercept, or gets any other person to intercept any wire, electronic, or oral communication or discloses the communication can be imprisoned for no more than five years, under Rhode Island law. R.I. Gen Laws § 11-35-21.
Under the statute, consent is not required for the taping of a non-electronic in person communication uttered by a person who does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in that communication. See definition of “oral communication,” R.I. Gen Laws § 12-5.1-1.
The statute provides for civil liability of actual damages of $100 per day for each day of violation or $1,000, whichever is higher, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney fees and other litigation expenses. R.I. Gen Laws § 12-5.1-13.
The state’s highest court has expressly recognized that the law allows the recording of conversations with the consent of one party only. Pulawski v. Blais, 506 A.2d 76 (R.I. 1986). The Supreme Court of Rhode Island has also stated that Rhode Island’s wiretapping laws should be interpreted more strictly than federal wiretapping statutes “in the interest of giving the full measure of protection to an individual’s privacy.” State v. O’Brien, 774 A.2d 89 (R.I. 2001). [1]
