Ohio newspaper sues over arrest of reporter and photographer, deletion of photos

<p>The Blade, an Ohio newspaper, is suing several U.S. government officials over the arrest of a reporter and a photographer, the seizing of the photographer's cameras and the deletion of photos taken outside a General Dynamics Plant.</p>

<p>As reported in The Blade, John Robinson Block, The Blade’s publisher and editor-in-chief, said, "I don’t believe this is a close call at all, unless someone abolished the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment without telling us.”</p>

<p>http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2014/04/05/Blade-files-lawsuit-over-detention-of-journalists.html</p>

<p>If the story is true then I find it abhorring when someone is threatening someone (because one is armed) and yet doesn't even follow the law....that they are assigned to enforce.</p>

<p>Yes, the law$uit it's the only way the enforcers along with the chain of command will pay attention to this issue. Amazing, we are in (which century ?) and the bubba-level tactics still continue....</p>

<p>Les</p>

<p>This sort of thing happens every day in the U.S. Sometimes several times a day. It's due to a combination of factors: the decreasing presence of local newspapers and subsequent loss of clout by journalists in general; increasing "vigilance" in the name of fighting terrorism/drugs/boogeymen under your bed, and consequent militarization of civilian law enforcement coupled with the "zero tolerance" policy toward everything.</p>

<p>I used to follow Carlos Miller's PINAC blog and Facebook feed, which report on incidents of officials interfering with First Amendment rights, but I took them off my active feed. Too depressing.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I don't know what the statistics are for this sort of thing. Are we simply more aware of it now due to the immediacy of reporting such abuses? When I was a working journalist in the 1980s I was already seeing a shift away from openness and toward less cooperation with journalists by law enforcement and local government. By the mid to late 1980s Texas law enforcement agencies were placing more obstances in the path of getting access to arrest and incident reports; more and more local government was being conducted behind closed doors, abusing the loophole for discussing "personnel matters" in private by construing everything of any consequence as a "personnel matter".</p>

<p>Hasn't anyone heard? The Bill of Rights is now optional. Has been since the Patriot Act came along.</p>

<p>Rick H.</p>

<p>I applaud them for taking action. It's the only way that these types of offenses can be prevented in the future.</p>

<p>I grew up a mile from a shipyard back in the 40's and 50's. I remember seeing signs posted at intervals on the chain link fences encircling the shipyard with wording forbidding photography on or near the premises.</p>

<p>If it was a military shipyard, the photography ban may be enforceable, but if it was a private shipyard, and the photographer was standing on public property, the photographer is within his or her rights to photograph it</p>