GOP Lawmakers Target Body Wire Ruling

Republicans in the House of Delegates want a special session this year so the Legislature can respond to a state Supreme Court ruling addressing police electronic surveillance powers.

The Associated Press' Tom Breen has the story.

The GOP members seek legislation so any circuit judge could sign off on hiding recording devices on informants before they enter suspects' residences.

Ruling in a Boone County case, a 3-2 Supreme Court concluded in February that police cannot send a wired informant into someone's home without such an order. But Breen reports that "State law now authorizes only five circuit court judges throughout the state to issue such orders, and prohibits police from seeking them from within their own counties."

Breen quotes House Minority Leader Tim Armstead of Kanawha County and Delegate John Ellem of Wood County. Both are lawyers, while Ellem's practice also includes representing criminal defendants.

Armstead called on Gov. Joe Manchin to including the topic in any special session he may have planned for this year, or to convene one if he doesn't.

"Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said the administration will research the issue more thoroughly before coming to the Legislature with proposals," Breen reports.

Breen also notes that a number of law enforcement groups have decried the ruling, which spurred separate dissenting opinions from Justices Elliott "Spike" Maynard and Brent Benjamin.