More on the Right to Record

     This entry is going to be one for debate. We are going to discuss more on the right to record. 


    So interestingly enough the Va Code Here, says you have the right to record a CPS worker if they are made aware. However the Va Code Here, you only need the consent of one party to record. And that party is allowed to be yourself. 


    Federal Laws have not fully addressed specifically outlining the absolute right to record a Social Worker in the same manner they have with police. However if you take a gander at this page - Heritage Defense, they say general it is but may be restricted by some state laws. 

    

    As we are talking specifically about Virginia right now, it leaves to debate which law would be taken into effect in a situation with a caseworker. Also recently the admittance of recordings into court has changed. As of 2023 Virginia recording laws states - 

Updates for 2023

Virginia remains a one-party consent state for audio recording in 2023; however, you cannot use the recording as evidence in a court of law if all parties did not know the recording was taking place. You also cannot record both video and audio of a person without that person’s consent. Video surveillance remains legal so long as it is with the intent of securing your property.


It also leaves into question will recordings that were done prior to this law change, and cases prior to it still allow the one party consented recording in courts. 

This can be a major blow to some cases in dealing with this. 


    On the one hand, notifying the worker they are being recorded gives the slight chance they will follow laws and policy, but if it's already past that point it could be worrisome to navigate through. 


    I will still stand by recording regardless, should sadly your case ever make it into federal courts or civil litigation they may allow more than what a criminal court would. It also did not specify which type of court proceedings as family/juvenile court does and will operate on different standards of evidence. 


To check out the federal recording law and recording laws by state you can do so Here.

Note that Federally its one party consent. 



***Disclaimer**** Use Them or Lose Them is in no way affiliated to the websites linked for information purposes. These websites/firms have not been vetted, researched etc. It is always encouraged to fact check as not all information on the web is always accurate or up to date. These or just resources I used to help. Thank you 


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