Photojournalist conviction overturned

[paulie_smith]

<p><a href="http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2008/11/sauger.html">http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2008/11/sauger.html</a><br>

Go to the NPPA article and you can read about this. He never should have been arrested and certainly not convicted.</p>

[ned1]

<p>Remind me never to visit Ohio.</p>

<p>Is this something new? Were photojournalists arrested and convicted photographing protests during the 60's? Anyone know of similar incidents in the past?</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>It's nothing new. Journalists in the U.S. have continually had to defend against infringements of the 1st Amendment. I've forgotten how many similar cases we studied in journalism classes. It's an ongoing battle. Always has been, always will be. It's the price we pay for reminding governments that their role is to protect and defend rights and liberties that we already have as a natural consequence of the human condition, not to grant us privileges that may be revoked at whim.</p>

[roger_smith4]

<p>May he win a hefty award against Toledo in his pending civil rights suit. That should help discourage other cities from such undemocratic behavior.</p>

[francis_bacon4]

<p>I'm facing a similar hassle with the feds... I inadvertanly walked into a VA hospital sporting a photo vest, Nikon and big telephoto and was snagged by security. Goin' to court to contest the citation for "unauthorized photography" Cop made me take out my exposed film and pull it completely out of canister or he would keep my equipment as "evidence." Federal Code does stipulate and cite no 'unauthorized photography' but since when does FC trump the Constitution? And to be really technical about the whole thing. <em>ALL</em> photography on federal property seems to be barred (??) so how do I take pix in Washington, DC or a federal park?</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>The owner of any building can prohibit photography within the building. The owner could be you, me, the owner of your local Home Depot store or the Federal Government.</p>

<p>There's no general overall restriction concerning the photography OF federal buildings from public property, but there are specific restrictions concerning some military installations, nuclear power plants and some other classes of government buildings.</p>

[User_2000406]

<p>I had a run-in with a security guard and the police last year in southern Louisiana. While on vacation I took a photo of a building (part of a natural gas facility) elevated about 20 feet off the ground for protection from hurricane storm surge. Next thing I knew a security guard came up to me and told me that no photography was allowed and that there was a sign (which I had not seen) stating this. I quickly offered to delete the photo, and went through the entire memory card with the guard watching so he could see that I did not have any more photos of the facility. In retrospect, the small pull-out where I was briefly parked was probably on private land. I then departed the scene thinking I had taken care of things.</p>

<p>Shortly thereafter I was pulled over by a police car. The officer asked about what I had been doing and stated that the security guard had called them after the incident. I cooperated and explained that I was on vacation and that my employer's business includes flood control which is why I had an interest in the building in question.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, my employer ID has a funky date system (YYYYMMMDD which on casual inspection looks like numbersMMMYY), so it appeared to be expired. This made them even more suspicious of my taking a picture of a gas facility- this could be terrorist activity. It's a good thing they didn't ask my boss's name because it's a Persian name (even though her family's been in the U.S. since the days of the shah) which would mean I'm working for the Iranians! Anyway, after they ran my information (license, etc.) through their computers and I checked out, they released me after giving me a lecture on never ever taking any photos near any oil and gas facilities.</p>

<p>So when I get back to the office, I Google to see if there are any laws or Department of Homeland Security directives against what I had done. I was concerned because this situation could happen again while I'm doing my job, which can take me to spots adjacent to industrial facilities. There are no such federal laws, although there are several reports of photographers being hassled and arrested in Louisiana for photographing oil and gas facilities, despite the absence of any state laws prohibiting such photography. Some of this is homeland-security related paranoia and some probably is oil companies being secretive and avoiding documentation of pollution and safety issues. I also asked our legal department and they provided a written response that if I'm not on private property then there should be no legal problem in photographing such facilities.</p>

<p>This creates an interesting situation. Apparently, one can legally photograph such facilities from public areas unless there are state or local laws prohibiting such in states other than mine. Yet the police in some areas feel justified in harassing anyone who does this because one might be a terrorist or somehow gathering information for terrorists. Judging from the reactions and statements of the security guard and the officers, I am quite confident that the same thing would have happened had I been a few feet over on the public pavement, so I really don't think the issue is public vs. private land.</p>

<p>Of course you can insist on your rights, and probably get arrested in the process and your gear confiscated (and film removed or digital media erased). Even if you later win in court, you've paid dearly in time and money. No way was I going to ruin my vacation with a jail stay and then have an out-of-state court fight drag on for another year or two after.</p>