"Carlos Miller and his blog Photography Is Not A Crime has to be the best blog I have come across to date that documents the ongoing battle that photographers and videographers are facing in increasing numbers."Hodson Report
"Anyone who promises to 'mock, madden and maybe even muckrake' has my attention - especially when he's fighting for my right to plant my sticks wherever the Constitution says I can."Lenslinger
"With a seemingly increasing number of stories of police harassing and arresting photographers making headlines, one man has made it his job to watch the police."B-roll
"This is not a partisan issue. It's a police abuse-of-power issue, and 'security' is no excuse for this sort of totally unacceptable and unconstitutional behavior by officers of the law. Carlos Miller is a great source of information about these unfolding stories."Brendan Loy
I have a bunch of RSS feeds on my smartphone, and I tell ya, this is one i read constantly. Great info, and it is unbelievable what is going on right here in the USA.... Virginia Beach Photo Club
“Photography is not a Crime” is informative, well written and takes no prisoners. The Photojournalist
The Bad
"This Carlos Miller character is just a jerk, no redeeming social or personal value."Conservative Cave
"You're a good writer, Carlos, but until you're able to recognize and acknowledge your biases, your quests for justice will be seen by most as little more than sour grapes by a man with a chip on his shoulder."South Florida Daily Blog
The Ugly
"You are a cockroach and boil on the ass of journalism in Miami and the sooner that responsible journalists in Miami disown you and repudiate your actions the better.""Hank"
"Your arrogant, crass, thug-like behavior crops up at every turn. One only need to read your blog to see that.
You can’t seem to cover anything without getting into a potentially violent confrontation.""Hank"
Recognition
The South Florida Daily Blog Post of the Month February 2008The South Florida Daily Blog Post of the Month June 2008The South Florida Daily Blog Post of the Month November 2008Some Cranky Guy
Uber Amazing BlogNovember 23rd, 2008
By Carlos Miller
On this Fourth of July, while most of you will be taking it easy, I will be working my weekend gig at NBCMiami - not that I am complaining.
And while we celebrate freedom and democracy, we should also understand that we are not technically a democracy, but a republic.
The above video does a good job on explaining the differences.
The one part that struck me is how in a democracy, a mob of cowboys who chase down a single horseman for some alleged crimes will be able to hang him instantly by a vote of the majority.
In a republic, this mob would be required to take the lone suspect back to town where he would be entitled to a fair trial.
Thats an awfully simplistic view. We are actually a combination of the two. We are not a republic but not a democracy. We have a balance of power between federal, state, and local which all have different characteristics.
And your last sentence is so blindly naive I really don’t know what to say. Yes I do – disappointment comes to mind.
We are typically known as a “Democratic Republic”.
“Will of the whoever-happens-to-be-present masses” isn’t democracy, and I think that your example is, as yoshi said, incredibly simplistic and inaccurate.
I’m afraid I happen to agree.
A republic is a form of government where we elect our officials to make our decisions for us. A democracy is one where all of the people vote on the decisions.
Ergo, the US is both. We vote for government officials, but also on referendums.
More accurately, the mob could only hang him if the mob consisted of a majority of the citizens of said democracy.
In a republic, the mob could hang him if the mob consisted of a majority of the elected and appointed officials.
That is a great video & a democracy is mob rule we have a government that is limited by the constitution as our elected reps r supposed to be! And there r no “different charistics” when it comes to gov officials. A republic is a nation of legal equals, as our high court SAYS WE ARE,& if America is a democracy why do the crooks in dc work for such a small % of Americans?
The Army of the US used to tell its recruits in their “Why We Fight” manual that a democracy is a “mob rules from of government where the right of the many can take away the rights of the few & we live in a REPUBLIC” they quit informing them of this around WW1, but hiding the truth dosent change it yoshi!
Is a Republic not bound by a document that defines the laws that govern the government; that document being what makes the government a Monarchy, Oligarchy, Democracy, etc? Are we not a Democratic Republic?
I think that our Democratic elected servants care not what said document says. When I vote do I hire hit-men to prey on others? I don’t want to pay $ or anything for other good people to be hurt.
I come to this site often & hardly ever post but lies that r leading to tyrnary really upset me so art 4 sec 4 U S Constitution “The U S shall guerantee every state in the Union a REPUBLICAN form of government…” & yes our founding fathers knew we used some democratic principals. Now how about reading the preamble to the Bill of Rights, please!
Who can organize a protest in Miami over red light cameras as part of the national protest? City of MB is getting them. http://bit.ly/aA2dPC3 hours ago
My name is Carlos Miller and I am a multimedia journalist who was arrested by Miami police after taking photos of them against their wishes, a clear violation of my First Amendment rights.
Since that arrest on Feb. 20th, 2007, I've fought a lengthy battle against the State of Florida to prove my innocence. After going to trial in June 2008, I was acquitted of all charges except resisting arrest without violence. I appealed that conviction pro se, meaning I represented myself, and I won a reversal.
However, I am now fighting another arrest for photographing cops against their wishes. On Memorial Day Weekend 2008, I was arrested on Miami Beach on a single charge of resisting arrest without violence after I photographed a couple of cops against their wishes.
Click here to read more.
Their side of story
Police “escorted defendant to the middle of the street and told him to cross to the sidewalk. Defendant for the fourth time refused the verbal commands and that’s why he was arrested.” Read arrest report.
A legal view
The general rule in the United States is that anyone may take photographs of whatever they want when they are in a public place or places where they have permission to take photographs. Absent a specific legal prohibition such as a statute or ordinance, you are legally entitled to take photographs. Examples of places that are traditionally considered public are streets, sidewalks, and public parks.(more).
SPJ’s protest letter
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.
Read the press release from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Sarcasm Disclaimer
I am a very sarcastic person in person. And I am probably even more sarcastic in my writing.
But if you’ve never met me, you might not see that sarcasm. After all, sarcasm depends on tone and delivery for pure effectiveness, something that is hard to do with the written word.
So if you are ever offended by something I write, whether you are a conservative, liberal, Catholic, Jew, atheist, American, foreigner, black, white, southerner, yankee, homosexual, straight or whatever, chances are, I am just being sarcastic.
Truth is, I am not a hater. I don’t even hate cops. I just want them to abide by the law.
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Fernandez, as I mentioned in a 
Awesome !
Long Live the Republic.
Thats an awfully simplistic view. We are actually a combination of the two. We are not a republic but not a democracy. We have a balance of power between federal, state, and local which all have different characteristics.
And your last sentence is so blindly naive I really don’t know what to say. Yes I do – disappointment comes to mind.
We are typically known as a “Democratic Republic”.
“Will of the whoever-happens-to-be-present masses” isn’t democracy, and I think that your example is, as yoshi said, incredibly simplistic and inaccurate.
I’m afraid I happen to agree.
A republic is a form of government where we elect our officials to make our decisions for us. A democracy is one where all of the people vote on the decisions.
Ergo, the US is both. We vote for government officials, but also on referendums.
More accurately, the mob could only hang him if the mob consisted of a majority of the citizens of said democracy.
In a republic, the mob could hang him if the mob consisted of a majority of the elected and appointed officials.
While Carlos’ explanation is limited, and at times a recitation of excerpts, I do think this would be a useful tool for children learning civics.
Catinthewall #5,
But only after due process and exhausting all appeals.
I should have known better than to post a simple video with a basic explanation as a way to avoid a heavily researched post on a Friday night.
Remember, I wake up early on Saturday to go my NBCMiami gig.
But if you want to fully expand on the differences between a democracy and a republican, then be my guest.
That is a great video & a democracy is mob rule we have a government that is limited by the constitution as our elected reps r supposed to be! And there r no “different charistics” when it comes to gov officials. A republic is a nation of legal equals, as our high court SAYS WE ARE,& if America is a democracy why do the crooks in dc work for such a small % of Americans?
The Army of the US used to tell its recruits in their “Why We Fight” manual that a democracy is a “mob rules from of government where the right of the many can take away the rights of the few & we live in a REPUBLIC” they quit informing them of this around WW1, but hiding the truth dosent change it yoshi!
Is a Republic not bound by a document that defines the laws that govern the government; that document being what makes the government a Monarchy, Oligarchy, Democracy, etc? Are we not a Democratic Republic?
I think that our Democratic elected servants care not what said document says. When I vote do I hire hit-men to prey on others? I don’t want to pay $ or anything for other good people to be hurt.
I come to this site often & hardly ever post but lies that r leading to tyrnary really upset me so art 4 sec 4 U S Constitution “The U S shall guerantee every state in the Union a REPUBLICAN form of government…” & yes our founding fathers knew we used some democratic principals. Now how about reading the preamble to the Bill of Rights, please!