Photography and recordings do much to safeguard citizens’ rights and protect honest officers against false accusations. Places in which officials discourage lawful, constitutional photography are ones in which officials not only act outside the law but also imprudently. There will be fewer injustices, and better policing, in a word of expansive photographers’ rights.
By the way, there have been encounters in Whitewater, Wisconsin at least as far back as the eighties in which citizens photographing buildings were told — falsely — that photographing public property was a crime in Wisconsin. (I know of no one who, having challenged this false claim of illegality, was then actually arrested.)
There are no guarantees, of course; someone who levels a false charge may be convinced of his position, and act on a wrong view. Those who challenge an official should be prepared for a protracted legal process. (Officials who badger lawful citizens count on a cumbersome process of appeal, of course, to dissuade legitimate conduct they don’t like.) That’s a choice wrongly imposed on harmless photographers; we’d be far better off in a world without these impositions on liberty.
Here’s the text accompanying the video:
Who will watch the watchers? In a world of ubiquitous, hand-held digital cameras, that’s not an abstract philosophical question. Police everywhere are cracking down on citizens using cameras to capture breaking news and law enforcement in action.
In 2009, police arrested blogger and freelance photographer Antonio Musumeci on the steps of a New York federal courthouse. His alleged crime? Unauthorized photography on federal property.
Police cuffed and arrested Musumeci, ultimately issuing him a citation. With the help of the New York Civil Liberties Union, he forced a settlement in which the federal government agreed to issue a memo acknowledging that it is totally legal to film or photograph on federal property.
Although the legal right to film on federal property now seems to be firmly established, many other questions about public photography still remain and place journalists and citizens in harm’s way. Can you record a police encounter? Can you film on city or state property? What are a photographer’s rights in so-called public spaces?
These questions will remain unanswered until a case reaches the Supreme Court, says UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh, founder of the popular law blog The Volokh Conspiracy. Until then, it’s up to people to know their rights and test the limits of free speech, even at the risk of harassment and arrest.
Who will watch the watchers? All of us, it turns out, but only if we’re willing to fight for our rights.
Produced by Hawk Jensen and Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Jim Epstein and Jensen. About 7.30 minutes.
Go to http://reason.com/blog/2011/05/26/reasontv-the-governments-warfor links and more articles.