New York's top court: Parents can legally eavesdrop on kids

Legal Events

New York's highest court says parents can legally eavesdrop on young children, establishing an exception to state law against wiretaps without the consent of at least one person on a call.

The Court of Appeals split 4-3 in deciding such monitoring is justified when a parent or guardian reasonably believes it would be in the child's best interests to listen to and tape phone conversations.

Tuesday's ruling is in a case involving a cellphone recording of Anthony Badalamenti threatening to beat a 5-year-old boy. The boy's biological father made the recording.

Badalamenti lived with the boy's mother. He was convicted of child endangerment, assault and weapon possession.

His attorney challenged the tape as inadmissible evidence.

The ruling upheld a decision by a mid-level appeals court.

Related listings

  • Supreme Court rejects Blagojevich appeal in corruption case

    Supreme Court rejects Blagojevich appeal in corruption case

    Legal Events 03/27/2016

    The Supreme Court on Monday rejected former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's appeal of his corruption convictions that included his attempt to sell the vacant Senate seat once occupied by President Barack Obama.   The justices let stand an appeal...

  • Court gives green light to death penalty fast-tracking

    Court gives green light to death penalty fast-tracking

    Legal Events 03/24/2016

    A federal appeals court Wednesday cleared the way for the Department of Justice to allow states to have their inmates' death penalty appeals expedited through federal court.   Legal organizations that challenged the DOJ's criteria for certifying...

  • Judge begins to deliver verdict in Ukrainian pilot trial

    Judge begins to deliver verdict in Ukrainian pilot trial

    Legal Events 03/22/2016

    A Russian court has begun reading a verdict for Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who is charged with complicity to murder two Russian journalists in war-torn eastern Ukraine.   The judge began reading the verdict Monday morning. He quoted arg...

Forte Law Group is a trusted resource to protect your child’s needs.

Based on the culmination of ongoing state, municipal and board of education budget cuts, coupled with school districts having to do more with less resources, the current climate within schools often dictates that you may require a special education attorney to achieve the best results when advocating for your child’s right to a free appropriate public education. Coupled with increasing class sizes, your child may slip through the cracks within the school system itself and not be receiving an appropriate education with measurable goals and objectives.

A Connecticut Special Education Attorney Knows the Law

Often is the situation that there already exists a high level of frustration and contention between the family and school when special education and related services are not being appropriately delivered. Many times, the relationship between family and school results in an adversarial environment that is not conducive towards a team approach for the benefit of your child’s needs.

Business News

New York Adoption and Family Law Attorneys Our attorneys have represented adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption agencies. >> read
DuPage IL worker's comp lawyers Since 1962, the law firm of Krol, Bongiorno & Given, Ltd. has been a leader in the field of workers’ compensation law in DuPage, Illinois. >> read