So they can film you! But you cannot film them?

1. 74

   Reality Bytesposted 13 years ago

   That Anthony Graber broke the law in early March is indisputable. He raced his Honda motorcycle down Interstate 95 in Maryland at 80 mph, popping a wheelie, roaring past cars and swerving across traffic lanes.
   
   Anthony Graber was arrested for posting a video of his traffic stop on YouTube.But it wasn't his daredevil stunt that has the 25-year-old staff sergeant for the Maryland Air National Guard facing the possibility of 16 years in prison. For that, he was issued a speeding ticket. It was the video that Graber posted on YouTube one week later -- taken with his helmet camera -- of a plainclothes state trooper cutting him off and drawing a gun during the traffic stop near Baltimore.
   
   
   http://abcnews.go.com/US/TheLaw/videota … d=11179076
   
   Why should the Police (our Civil servants) have the right to operate outside the realm of citizen journalism.

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   1. 65

      Ralph Deedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      That's a good question. Last year I had an argument with a policeman who told me to stop taking pictures of a serious multi-car accident a couple of blocks from my home. I was standing among a crowd of people across the street and in no way interfering with the rescue efforts. Fortunately, he stopped bothering me after he couldn't answer my question "What law am I violating."

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2. 66

   Flightkeeperposted 13 years ago

   They don't have that right. Are you saying he was successfully convicted because he made a fool out of the local police?

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   1. 74

      Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      His home was raided and his videos were confiscated.  He has been indicted.  there are more examples in the story it is quite unbelievable.

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      1. 66

         Flightkeeperposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I think the leftist ACLU should go to his defense and make sure that he successfully prosecutes the police.  That's so over the top.

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         1. 74

            Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            
            
            
            Here is the video I got from You Tube
            
            
            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-KuxlZCfHs
            
            Any traffic cameras that would have managed to capture his image would be used as evidence against him in court.

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         2. 0

            PrettyPantherposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Did you read the article?  The ACLU is on it:
            
            David Rocah, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, is part of Graber's defense team.
            
            "It's not that recording any conversation is illegal without consent. It's that recording a private conversation is illegal without consent," he said. "So then the question is, 'Are the words of a police officer spoken on duty, in uniform, in public a 'private conversation.' And every court that has ever considered that question has said that they are not."

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            1. 74

               Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               To top it off there is no sound on the video. just video of a public highway.

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            2. 66

               Flightkeeperposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Well I'm glad that the ACLU is on this.  No I didn't read the article. Yes I did watch Youtube and thought he was going very fast so I was not surprised that the police would pull him up. I don't have a problem with him pulling a gun, I do want to know if he identified himself as a cop because it was an unmarked car.
               
               I agree with Rocah that it was not a private conversation.  If the cyclist had no prior criminal record, they shouldn't have invaded his home.

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3. 80

   Sufidreamerposted 13 years ago

   Nice to see a post where everyone agrees!
   
   That is pretty disgraceful behavior - I wish Mr Graber all of the best in his case.
   
   That is one area that the law has pretty spot on over here - law enforcement cannot film or take photos of your property without warrants, and they have to jump through hoops for those. Property includes you as a person - CCTV and Speed Cameras have been repeatedly ruled unconstitutional and inadmissible as evidence, so we don't have those infernal devices infesting the cites and roads. Of course, they still keep trying to use 'terror' as an excuse for bringing them in...
   
   Lots of other things suck badly in Greece, so that is one small crumb of comfort!

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4. 68

   MikeNVposted 13 years ago

   With today's Camera Features built into Cell Phones there is fortunately a way for citizens to watch and monitor Police Actions.
   
   It's really a shot against Freedom and Liberty that there are any kind of laws suppressing this information.
   
   It's not like you can take every piece of footage to the Press and hope for some kind of exposure.
   
   I hope his case is thrown out and a precedent is set.
   
   Freedom isn't Free.

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   1. 74

      Reality Bytesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      The Reality of the world today is that if you do Anything in public you may be filmed and it might end up on sites like youtube.
      
      This is just a fact of life in the 21st century.

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