[mikestew]

Illinois law is tough on citizens who "eavesdrop."

The fact that Illinois traditionally has some of the most corrupt politicians (and, some might argue, school officials) in the country has absolutely no correlation to tough laws on recording conversations, I'm sure.

[raarts]

Some notes. 'eavesdropping' means listening in on a conversation without participating, and without consent of the participants. That was not the case here, this case involved recording a conversation which the boy participated in.

Depending on local law it may be allowed to record your conversations without the other party's consent for personal use, as long as you don't reveal the recording to other parties. So the simple act of recording itself might be legal.