By Carlos Miller
A 55-year-old woman who was frisked, handcuffed and detained after photographing some power lines for an academic project won an $8,000 settlement.
Shirley Scheier, a University of Washington art professor, had snapped the photos near the Bonneville Power Administration in Snohomish, Washington in Oct. 2005.
She was pulled over by three officers who told her they were investigating her for “suspicious behavior.”
Even though she showed them her university identification and explained what she was doing, police ordered her to step out of the car where they frisked her.
Then they handcuffed her and placed her in the back of a squad car while they searched her car.
She was released 45 minutes later.
The ACLU, who assisted in the case, announced the settlement earlier today.
The settlement came after the U.S. District Court in Seattle last year found that officers “lacked a reasonable justification for their aggressive tactics in completely restraining Scheier’s personal liberty.” Scheier’s experience highlights a pattern of law enforcement officers harassing people engaged in taking pictures in public.
“Taking photographs of objects or people in plain view is not a crime. Police should not presume that it is a suspicious act, and should not overreact by detaining people for taking pictures,” said ACLU-WA Legal Director Sarah Dunne.
Washington attorney Venkat Balasubramani, one of the three attorneys who represented Scheier on behalf of the ACLU, stated the following:
The court’s summary judgment order recognizes that photography is not inherently suspicious activity, and photographers have the right to take photographs from public locations. The court’s ruling also makes clear that that generalized suspicions of terrorist activity do not trump constitutionally required standards for the detention and arrest of citizens, including photographers.
Read the court order here.
Popularity: 2% [?]
8 responses so far ↓
1 NYCPhotorights // Jun 8, 2009 at 7:08 PM
Seems that the CLU’s on the West Coast are settling for peanuts. New York area photographers are getting twice or three times those amounts. A photographer who was handcuffed for 20 minutes received $31,000 last year…
2 HMG // Jun 8, 2009 at 9:45 PM
Cases like this are settled because it’s cheaper than going to trial. It’s extortion by lawyer. It means nothing.
3 Kol. Klink // Jun 8, 2009 at 9:52 PM
I’d sharpen my pitchfork before bending over to lick up $8,000. I’ve lost that in a 401K in one week.
4 Jay // Jun 8, 2009 at 10:20 PM
I suppose when it starts becoming too expensive for cities to pay for violating rights, that’s when it’ll stop.
5 NYCPhotorights // Jun 8, 2009 at 10:20 PM
HMG:
Photographers need to sue more often – if each and every photographer who is detained even for a few minutes sued eventually these municipalities and police departments will stop the harassment. I say make the governments who engage in detaining photographers pay till it breaks their budgets!
6 Anonymous // Jun 8, 2009 at 10:28 PM
Washington state cops are some of the dumbest animals around. 10+ years to catch the worst serial killer of all time (Ridgeway) but jaywalkers and older women taking taking pictures get beaten/ detained? Scum of the earth.
7 brucedene // Jun 8, 2009 at 11:44 PM
Shirley Scheier, the defendant in the Washington case, made it clear that she wasn’t interested in the money. She seemed to be more concerned with the chilling effect this incident had on her art. I for one welcome a non-litigious voice to the dialogue.
8 Jon Quimbly // Jan 10, 2010 at 10:38 PM
What seems different to me (and IANAL) is that Scheier’s lawsuit was ruled upon by the judge (summary judgement) before the settlement was agreed upon.
Because of this, it seems (to me, naively) as though her legal representation carried the ball further than just a plain old settlement.
I’m curious if the summary judgement in this case contributes precedent or case law in any way… Would the lawyers here care to comment on that?
Leave a Comment