By Carlos Miller
National leaders of the largest journalism organization in the United States have expressed their disappointment in Miami-Dade County Court Judge Jose L. Fernandez for violating my First Amendment rights.
Fernandez, as I mentioned in a previous post, gave me an extremely harsh sentence and criticized me for having blogged about my case.
From the SPJ press release:
“The fact that Mr. Miller was arrested for taking pictures in a public place was the first violation of his First Amendment rights,” SPJ President Clint Brewer said. “Those rights were violated again when Mr. Miller’s statements in his blog became factors in Fernandez’s sentence. The Society fully defends Mr. Miller’s right to speak freely in his blog.”
SPJ’s David Cuillier also wrote an opinionated piece on the situation, which includes tips for photographers on how to deal with police confrontations.
Miami photographer Carlos Miller was found guilty of resisting arrest in a drawn-out legal battle over taking photos on a public street, but what is astonishing in this case is how the judge reacted. Even though the prosecutor asked for only three months probation and court costs, Judge Jose L. Fernandez slapped Miller with a year probation, court costs, 100 hours of community service, and anger management class. In court the judge told Miller he was appalled by Miller’s non-remorse (for taking pictures in public?), body language during trial and chit-chat with his relatives.
During a time of newsroom layoffs and shrinking news holes – not to mention never-ending arrests of journalists – the Society of Professional Journalists has proven once again to be a stand-up organization.
The influential journalism organization has been in my corner from day one. From former South Florida Chapter President Darcie Lunsford to current South Florida Chapter President Julie Kay as well as the national leaders who approved a total of $3,000 towards my defense fund, SPJ might be the saving grace of journalism.
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24 responses so far ↓
1 discarted // Jun 19, 2008 at 7:40 PM
Is that the final say? Is an appeal likely? Can this be taken to a higher court? Please let us know. You have our support.
discarted.com
2 Carlos Miller // Jun 19, 2008 at 7:41 PM
discarted,
This is far from over.
3 Cindy Yingst // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:33 PM
Good for you, Carlos. Keep fighting! You are right and you will win. If you don’t, something is seriously wrong here.
4 Carlos Miller // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:47 PM
A blast from the past.
For the record, Cindy Yingst was one of my editors when I covered night cops for the San Bernardino County Sun.
Thanks for the support, Cindy. I am going to win.
5 u funny, man // Jun 20, 2008 at 2:39 PM
You are a coward and a disingenuous at that. You didn’t have the balls to say “F U” to the judge’s face, and after putting it on the blog, you deleted it. From speaking to those present, it’s also obvious that you are embellishing the judge’s remarks and taking them out of context. Putting “to the effect that” in front of your comments doesn’t make them accurate or close to accurate. I bet things would sound differently if the transcript was available. Knowing the Judge as I do, he’d get a good laugh from all this. From your comments and reaction it’s obvious you were a jerk to the cops on the that night.
6 Carlos Miller // Jun 20, 2008 at 3:48 PM
UFM,
I am getting the transcript and will post word by word the judge said.
7 Carlos Miller // Jun 20, 2008 at 4:07 PM
ufm,
The difference between saying FU to a judge in court and FU to a judge on my blog is the difference between contempt of court and the First Amendment.
One is protected speech, the other isn’t.
8 discarted // Jun 20, 2008 at 4:20 PM
UFM
how about you get your buddy the judge and we’ll all meet up on a public street so we can scream “F U” right in his face…and yours. how’s that sound?
9 u funny, man // Jun 20, 2008 at 7:35 PM
he’d beat your 1st amendment ass
10 Carlos Miller // Jun 20, 2008 at 7:37 PM
ufm,
Spoken like a true anti-American fascist.
11 Jorge // Jun 22, 2008 at 11:58 AM
The judge stands for what’s right about this country, I’m glad he went above and beyond to make an expample of these liberal pussies. We need more people like Judge Fernandez in this world.
Carlos, what I think you should do as punishment is to make a large donation to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since they are fighting and dieing everyday so that liberal punks like yourself can “take pictures” on the streets an write liberal bologna on your blog. Or maybe require you to go to Iraq so you could take pictures of what true men are.
I said it before and I’ll say it again, your dad, if he is what you have described him in your blog, would have been thoroughly embarrased.
12 Carlos Miller // Jun 22, 2008 at 2:51 PM
jorgito,
You obviously don’t know me because I would jump at the chance to photograph the Iraq War.
13 jorge // Jun 22, 2008 at 3:53 PM
but would you fight for your country?
would you support those that do?
I think not, I may not know you personally, but I know your kind
14 Carlos Miller // Jun 22, 2008 at 4:09 PM
jorgito,
I would fight for my country if it were a legit war.
I won’t fight to fill the pockets of the corporate elite.
15 jorge // Jun 22, 2008 at 5:47 PM
What’s not legit about it? There was legit evidence that taliban ws trainining in Iraq. Not to mention we must be involved in the Middle East for our children’s sake. You are you to decide if it is a legit war? Even Hillary voted to invade Iraq. Now it’s not popular and everyone is bashing Bush because no WMD were found. You are a bandwagon jumper, selfish to say “you” don’t believe it is a legit war. Who the Fuck are you?
16 Carlos Miller // Jun 22, 2008 at 5:59 PM
So now we’re through debating my arrest and now we’re going to debate the war?
That’s a topic for another blog, not this one.
The Taliban was never training in Iraq. And neither was Al-Qaeda.
These branches of Islam are much more extreme than Saddam ever was. He was a dictator, no doubt about it, but he wasn’t a religious fanatic.
I’m not a bandwagon jumper. I was against this war from the beginning. I found it odd that we were going after Saddam and Iraq when everybody was saying that it was Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan who was responsible for 9/11.
17 A former journalist // Jun 22, 2008 at 9:11 PM
Thank you so much Carlos. This is a battle that needs to be fought. I appreciate your time, energy, effort, and love of our country that it takes to do this. Thank you for me, my family and those to come.
18 d. zent // Jun 24, 2008 at 4:39 PM
Do us all a favor and toss this little pussy “Whore-hey!” off the comment section. It’s bad enough I occasionally have to stumble across Fox news without having to be reminded that there are still cockroaches like this little wanna-be neocon out there to squash. So please, squash him already and be done with it. The rest of the intelligent people thank you.
19 society of professional journalists Trendy Here! // Jun 25, 2008 at 9:04 PM
[...] Society of Professional Journalists has proven once again to be a stand-up organization. … credit : [...]
20 mac // Jun 27, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Hi, you should seriously consider filing a complaint with the Judicial Commission. If what you allege is true, the judge will most likely have violated, at the least, Canon 3 of the code of Judicial Conduct. See the code here: http://www.ablelegalforms.com/canons/judicialcode.html
21 B // Jun 27, 2008 at 11:11 AM
bravo to you and SPJ
22 Steve White // Nov 20, 2008 at 11:55 AM
I just wanted to say thanks for fighting. I’m not a photographer, but I have used my own camcorder to drive away bad cops who would have lied and said I attacked or threatened them when I was peacefully giving out leaflets near our local courthouse. Photography can be a huge protection for the innocent.
23 Draw Griffins // Jan 25, 2009 at 7:31 AM
Impeach that Judge. They are usually elected. Rally the community. It’s the only way to make change. Judges, City Counsel, Corporate Commissions, Local Officials. They are much more important to your day to day life than any president will ever be.
24 I’d like to take a moment to say thank you … | Photography is Not a Crime // Dec 25, 2009 at 6:33 PM
[...] off by mainstream journalists, but SPJ took up my cause, donating to my legal defense fund and protesting the judge when he used my blog against me during my sentencing. The irony is that I was a card-carrying member [...]
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