Was it legal to record and release Sterling's racist rant?

CNN.com ^ | May 2, 2014 | Mariano Castillo

[Biggirl]

(CNN) -- Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is banned from the NBA for life. Sterling has confirmed it is his voice expressing racist views on audio of a private conversation that was leaked to the media. Some who have followed Sterling over the years say he had shown this side before and the leaked audio led to public outcry too loud for the NBA commissioner to ignore.

[DoodleDawg]

Whether or not the recording was legal is a matter for California law enforcement.

But the NBA is not a court of law. Even if the recording was illegal, it can still use it to determine if Sterling violated any of the NBA rule or bylaws.

[MamaTexan]

Remember that, depending on the circumstances, if you are aware something is happening, you may be deemed to have given consent without ever having said "I consent to this."

You're quite correct. An implied consent is the same as actual consent since both require knowledge as their foundation.

In other words.....if you KNOW it's happening and you do nothing to stop it, it's your own fault.

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I doubt seriously this......girlfriend....... has any 'proof' of this consent whatsoever. What gets me is that so many are so busy wagging fingers, they let the fact they think Sterling's 'racist' overshadow the illegality of it all.

[riverdawg]

“I absolutely reject the legitimacy of laws like those of California or Maryland (invoked in the Linda Tripp / Monica Lewinsky matter) that prohibit a person from recording conversations they’re participating in.”

You can certainly record conversations in those two states. You just can't do so secretly. I once had a tyrannical boss who was well-known for abusive language and behavior in “private” personnel meetings. The only way to get him to behave in those meetings was to inform him that the conversation would be recorded.

[Jaded]

SOme how I missed that. It seemed to me it was more about a man ticked off that his mistress was cheating on him publicly.

[Scoutmaster]

We've been told that the girlfriend has 100+ hours of calls. We've been told that other parties have been present for the private discussions.

Sterling was an odd character. V. Stiviano sounds even more odd.

I'll withhold judgment until the other parties present (if any) make sworn statements and I find I more about them. I withhold judgment until the 100+ hours of additional audio are heard.

At this point, it's only the word of Stiviano and (I've read) the third party that Sterling has knowledge of and gave consent to the recording. Sterling appears outrageous enough to have permitted the taping, although I don't think that's a probability.

[Therapsid]

Like in the soviet and e germany

[2ndDivisionVet]

What do Cliven Bundy and Donald Sterling have in common? Nothing, but because they used their God given right of free speech to express an opinion, they have been crucified on the cross of major media——even some conservative media channels have turned their backs on these men’s right to speak their minds. Where’s the outrage from major media when members of the Black Panthers community brazenly walked the streets saying, they were going to kill all the cracker babies? Where was Obama when that was happening?

The media cry foul play when someone wants to censor them, but let all hell and its fury fall upon the heads of others they disagree with. In other words, in the America of today, only certain people have free speech, the rest of us, well, need I say anymore?

In truth, the major media is using these two men and any others, to create a race war, not end it!

Allan Hales

Salem

http://www.standard.net/stories/2014/05/01/media-used-bundy-sterling-create-race-war