By Donald R. Winslow
© 2010 News Photographer magazine
DURHAM, NC (July 28, 2010) – For many years the National Press Photographers Association has been dealing with the issue of police interfering with visual journalists as they try to do their jobs in public places, a situation that has grown worse since 9/11 and that seems to be more prevalent in incidents in recent months.
Despite the efforts of press organizations and media groups to educate police officers and private security firms about both the media and civilian's First Amendment rights and Constitutional guarantees, photographers are still being harassed and even detained or arrested, in some instances by police who are misrepresenting the intent of wiretapping laws.
So NPPA's leadership was pleased to see that U.S. Representative Edolphus Towns of New York's 10th District introduced House Congressional Resolution 298, which recognizes that the videotaping or photographing of police who are engaged in potentially abusive activity in a public place should not be prosecuted in state or federal courts.
And today NPPA's leadership asked Rep. Towns to take the next step in protecting photographers' First Amendment rights by changing his Resolution, suggesting that Towns instead introduce his proposal as a Congressional Bill.
Despite consistent court rulings protecting the First Amendment rights of both citizens and the media to take photographs in public places, and despite many law enforcement agencies spelling it out in their official policies, the officer on the street either doesn't get the word or decides to act on his own in the name of "security" or "terrorism laws," often citing rules that don't exist and exerting authority that's non-existent. And recently in some states police have started citing old wiretapping laws that have been on the books for decades as their excuse for ordering photographers to cease videotaping officers as they're doing their jobs in public, either during traffic stops or street arrests or while interfering with photographers who are breaking no rules and who are posing no threats to safety.
"It is extremely disturbing that some states have misrepresented the intent of wiretapping laws and modified them to affect news photographers and everyday people who are photographing or videotaping police actions in a public place," NPPA president Bob Carey wrote to Rep. Towns today.
"We believe that such misuse of these state laws are unconstitutional and need to be addressed at both the state and national levels. NPPA has been dealing with police interference with visual journalists in public places for years. We are pleased that your Resolution is currently before the Judiciary Committee and we stand ready to testify if needed."
As if to illustrate the problem in a timely manner, just this week The Washington Post reported 10 incidents in the DC area where photographers were wrongly asked to stop taking pictures, and ABC News did a story on the topic.
Carey is asking NPPA members to contact members of the House Judiciary Committee to voice their support for Resolution 298. The committee can be contacted by calling +1.202.225.3951 at their office at 2138 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, 20515, or through this Web page where Democratic and Republican committee members are listed individually by the states they represent. (Note: many members of Congress will only accept eMail correspondence from people who live in their specific district. If a Representative from your district is not a committee member, NPPA recommends using the telephone contact information.)
NPPA's general counsel, Mickey H. Osterreicher, wrote about this issue this week for the Media Law Resource Center. See his MLRC article "Photography Restrictions Run Rampant" online here.
Read today's New York Times LENS blog about NYPD officers continuing to harass photographers
