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| Re: MTA bus depot calls NYPD over cameraman (338026) | |||
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Re: MTA bus depot calls NYPD over cameraman |
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Posted by BusMgr on Tue Jan 28 15:49:09 2020, in response to Re: MTA bus depot calls NYPD over cameraman, posted by Orange Blossom Special on Tue Jan 28 09:53:54 2020. These individuals engage in constitutionally-protected activity for the purpose of determining whether local police will, in fact, protect their right to engage in such activities. In some cases, these individuals have won monetary awards from those municipalities that have violated such rights. It is important that the government respect respect our rights--indeed, the entire Bill of Rights constitutes a limitation on governments from attacking at least some of those rights--for otherwise we could devolve into a police state where the government controls everything we do, thereby eviscerating the very concept of liberty upon which this country was founded. Even if this particular individual is being as a "doofus," there is no law against being a "doofus."The general principle involved here is that, so long as one is on a public right-of-way, open to all, it is within the protection of the first amendment to photograph all that is visible. And this principle is very important because it can provide to evidence of wrong-doing, be it criminal activity or even misfeasance in government administration (e.g., NYCTA employees sleeping on the job). Obviously, people don't want to be accused of wrong-doing, so they resist being photographed. The right to photograph is determined by reference to the place where the photographer is standing, not as to the subject matter being photographed (for example, one can photograph the inside of a bus garage from standing on the sidewalk outside, but to photograph from inside the bus garage may require obtaining permission from the bus garage owner). There are very few exceptions, such as attempting to peep through closed window blinds of a private home, certain military installations (see, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 795), etc., and there are certain nuances, such as whether a rapid transit station can be restricted as a place from which photographs may be taken. But as a general matter, a person standing on the sidewalk outside a bus garage can freely photograph at will. |
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