The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division
has urged a federal court to side with a Howard County man in a lawsuit over his cellphone
being seized by Baltimore police at the Preakness Stakes after he filmed officers
making an arrest.
The federal attorneys say the lawsuit "presents
constitutional questions of great moment in this digital age." They asked U.S.
District Judge Benson Everett Legg to rule that citizens have a right to record
police officers and that officers who seize and destroy recordings without a
warrant or due process are violating the Fourth and 14th amendments.
In a November motion to dismiss the suit, the Police Department said the claims
made by Sharp and his attorneys were moot because the department had voluntarily
developed training protocols for officers and sergeants and emailed instructions
to officers. It said there was "no reasonable expectation that the violations
alleged by the plaintiff will reoccur."
But the Justice Department said
those measures were not sufficient.
"At minimum, defendants should
develop a comprehensive policy that specifically addresses individual's First
Amendment right to observe and record officer conduct," attorneys wrote.
"Morever, BPD should track allegations that an officer has
interfered with a citizen's First Amendment right to observe and/or record the
public performance of public duties."
The Maryland attorney general's office later issued an opinion advising police
agencies that people have a right to record officers and that most interactions
between police and the public cannot be considered private.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bs-md-ci-aclu-doj-videotaping-20120111,0,7691935.story
Google Transparency Report June 2011:
"We received a request from a local law enforcement agency to remove YouTube videos of police brutality, which we did not remove. Separately, we received requests from a different local law enforcement agency for removal of videos allegedly defaming law enforcement officials. We did not comply with those requests, which we have categorized in this Report as defamation requests."
http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/governmentrequests/US/
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