Anyone dealing with this administration in ANY capacity need to start recording all of their calls without notice. Recording consent laws are state-level, and most states only require you to know it is being recorded.
Would you rather have proof they threatened you? Or maybe a fine and/or minimal jail, assuming they can even find a jury to convict you for recording threats, AND that there isn’t an exception (several two-party consent States have exceptions that cover things like illegal activity, threats, etc).
One-Party Consent States (38):
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, District of ColumbiaTwo-Party Consent States (13):
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, WashingtonWhat happens if a person in two party consent state calls someone in a one party or vice versa? Which state law applies?
The one-party state law applies to the person in the one-party state.
The two-party state might bitch and moan and claim otherwise, but guess what? It doesn’t have jurisdiction!
In theory, couldn’t they still issue a warrant and try have you extradited?
In theory. But most states don’t send people elsewhere for bullshit like that. Usually just for things like violent felonies. They don’t want to be seen as possibly protecting a murderer by keeping them from justice.
We live in legally wacky time though, I’d probably err on the side of caution and announce the recording: It’d still have a deterrent effect and help prevent any legal fuckery.
The two-party consent state laws vary on this. So if you care, you would need to handle both ends of the call giving consent to be sure. This is why companies tell you they are recording even if they’re located in a one-party state, especially if they have a physical presence in that State.
So assuming there’s not an exception… for example, in Michigan there is an exception if you are a participant in a phone call. You just cannot give a third-party permission to record without the other person’s consent. So it’s really a one-party consent state for most things you would care about.
But again… even if we ignore the whole primary purpose here of recording threats… if you live in a one-party state like Arizona, do you really care about Florida if you never go there? And that even assumes Florida cares enough to pursue it in the first place.
Sounds like there’s a non-zero chance of extradition then, and would they care? Depends on the circumstances I guess. It still seems like announcing that the call is being recorded would have a good deterrent effect though.
It really pisses me off how difficult/impossible it is to record calls on cell phones (at least on Android, I have no experience with Apple stuff) in the US. Even with a custom OS it’s generally not possible. It should be a baseline option available after a simple warning to check local laws before enabling it.
I recently got an update on my phone where I can start recording with a tap. It does play a recording so both parties know it’s being recorded, so it would be applicable in a two-party consent jurisdiction (hang up if you refuse).
Also, over a decade ago when I was mucking about in LineageOS, I’m pretty sure there was an app you could install if you were in a one-party consent jurisdiction, which would not notify the person you were recording.
