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Photographer busted at DART station Files First Amendment Lawsuit


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#1 CNJRoss

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Posted 25 September 2016 - 04:36 PM

reason.com "Hit & Run" blog, 9/23:
 

Dallas Photographer Busted for Taking Pictures in Public Files First Amendment Suit

 

"There is freedom of the press," observed a puzzled paramedic who witnessed the arrest.

 

 

Avi Adelman, a freelance photographer in Dallas, was taking pictures at a Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) station last February when Stephanie Branch, a DART police officer, decided to arrest him for doing his job. The incident, described in a federal lawsuit that Adelman filed this month, shows how the First Amendment right to record images in public places can be both widely recognized and routinely violated.

 

Listening to his police scanner on the evening of February 9, Adelman heard a report of an overdose involving the synthetic marijuana substitute known as K2 at DART's Rosa Parks Plaza station and headed there, thinking the incident might be newsworthy. When Adelman arrived at the station, he saw Dallas Fire/Rescue (DFR) paramedics attending to a man lying on the ground and began to photograph the scene. Branch approached him and ordered him to stop taking pictures. Adelman noted that he had a constitutional right to photograph public events as long as he did not interfere with police or other emergency responders. Branch then demanded that he leave the area, and when he refused she grabbed him and handcuffed him.

 

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