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Police Stop Journalists From Photographing Metrorail System
schwit1 writes with this excerpt from Reason.com:
"Carlos Miller, who runs the Photography Is Not a Crime blog, and veteran photojournalist Stretch Leford decided to test the photography rules in Miami-Dade's metrorail system. Before embarking on their test, they obtained written assurance from Metro Safety and Security Chief Eric Muntan that there's no law against non-commercial photography on the system. The two didn't make it past the first station before they were stopped. Employees of 50 State Security, the private firm contracted to provide the metro's security, stopped the pair first. They then called in local police. The private firm and the police then threatened the two with arrest, demanded their identification (to check them against a terrorist watch list), demanded multiple times that they stop filming, and eventually 'banned' Miller and Ledford from the metro system 'for life' (though it's doubtful they had the authority to do so)."
This is far from over.
I'm glad to see that part of the article. They even presented to the security guards the very letter that granted the photographers permission, and they were still stopped. The next step is to follow-up on that letter and ask why their guards aren't following their own policies. This was a great experiment: there was no fighting, no harassing the security guards, etc. I really look forward to seeing the result. There is a part of me that hopes hundreds of photographers start going there to try and take photographs.
It's definitely not worth the money. For one thing, 9/11 changed the rules of plane hijackings: no longer can you expect that the terrorists will just land and ransom you if you just keep your head down. It was over on the same freakin' day, before the fourth plane ever reached its target.
It's always about costs vs. benefits, and it's about time we did some economic analysis of our security measures on top of the general effectiveness analysis we're also not doing enough of. Especially since all wars are economic: it doesn't matter what resource you cause your enemy to drain; if you can do it disproportionately, you can eventually win.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
They would try and get you with resisting arrest. So the entire pretense for arresting you is resisting arrest. Doesn't matter what the resistance is; vocal, thought, physical..
Just ask politely if you're under arrest. If not, carry right on doing whatever it is you were doing. .
There are other crazy laws on the books like this, like being drunk...in public.
Um, yes, but there's written laws for that. So far there's no law against photography and a cop really ought to know that.
No sig today...
The principles and specific laws of the United States say they can take photographs without written permission from some bureaucrat you fucking fascist. They should get in as much trouble as they can, then sue the shit out of the City, Metro Authority and police.
Having an arrest on your background check (for something like trespassing, resisting arrest, etc as opposed to child abuse, etc, or if it is unspecified) is a bad thing for most people, I'm thinking for a journalist it might be considered a good thing. Assuming you are going for an actual journalism job not as a talking head on fox or msnbc.
Yes, but trying to prove that is entertaining (in the deeply sarcastic sense) and expensive because you'll have to retain counsel, etc.
In the end, it's a balancing act asking if you're free to go or if you're under arrest (and under what charges)- most LEOs will back down from their position they're taking if they can't find a charge (nailing you for "resisting arrest" when there's nothing else they can do to you opens them up to the selfsame sort of "fun" they exposed YOU to...) and the ones that won't, typically will find some bogus charge to hit you with in the first place, regardless of whether you back down or not.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Be careful how you go about that. If you raise your hands out beyond a certain level, they will call that "flailing" and assume you are moving your hands in preparation for striking the officer. Then you're in for a world of hurt, both physically and legally. It's one of the bullshit tricks they use against people who give them a hard time, like questioning them too much. Right here, in the "land of the free."
An arrest record that might haunt you the rest of your life plus legal expenses is a rather Pyrrhic victory, to be sure.
If you want to do something about the police having excessive power, becoming a test case has to be one of the worst ways to do it. The best way is to take it up with your local/state legislators. Unlike the federal level, you actually have a chance of finding one who really does want to represent your interests. That, by the way, is one of many reasons why the Founding Fathers wanted most government that citizens experience to come from the local and state levels.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
The only bullshit part of it is that the fact you were arrested shows up on any criminal background check.
Uh, an unlawful arrest doesn't get deleted from your record? Wow. Just wow. I already had a low opinion of the USA, but I think it just dropped a few floors.
By default, no it does not. You can hire a lawyer at your own expense and pray that the judge will agree with you that it should be purged, but that's it.
On most employment applications, they ask if you have ever been arrested. If you say yes, there is a section where you can explain why and that'd be your chance to write "I was found not guilty" or "the charges were dropped" etc. But, you better believe that if an employer has two equally good applications except that one has such a statement, where the other was never arrested, the employer is going to favor the latter.
Many people have bought into authoritarian thought whether or not they are aware of it. Even if you were found not guilty, they will assume "well, he must have been doing SOMETHING wrong to get the attention of the authorities". The stigma of this is very real.
I have a tremendously low opinion of the USA myself. Somewhere along the line we embraced authoritarian philosophy and we no longer really believe in freedom. At best we believe in license, not freedom. Despite the tremendously long track record of abuses and excesses, we for some reason believe that our government represents us and always acts in our interests, so we let it have more power anytime it feels like acquiring it.
I believe that where we screwed up big-time was when we ever allowed the government to have any input whatsoever into how we educate our children. Take a hard look at our public schools. These are places where American citizens are threatened with suspension or expulsion for wearing a t-shirt of the American flag, since that might offend an immigrant. Places where kids are expelled for pointing a french fry at another student and saying "bang", since that violates a zero-tolerance rule about guns and violence. Places where a young girl can be forcibly strip-searched for having an aspirin or a Tylenol because that violates another zero-tolerance rule. We are throwing our children into an environment where authority can be as unreasonable and hypocritical as it likes, has a very low burden of proof if any, and can take drastic swift action with no appeal. When they grow up in that environment, they are likely to think it's normal when they see their government doing the same thing.
If you have children and give a damn about them, save them from this madness. I have a family member who is a hero in my eyes. Do you know why? Because he works three jobs and makes sacrifices so he can send all of his children to private school. He was careful to choose one that does not exhibit this kind of institutionalized madness. When he says he loves his children and cares about their well-being, he's willing to do whatever it takes to back that up with action. If only having that much of a spine were more common.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
And this is why they don't want photography in public places. For example, when beating suspects with handcuffs on their knuckles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2cLyblhpc.