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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Riot photos update search warrants and copyright
Robert Boag, Student/Intern
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Harrisonburg | VA | US | Posted: 4:41 PM on 04.16.10 |
->> Hey everyone,
So nice update to the riot images I shot and posted earlier this week. Early in the week we fought a copyright infringement issue with some blogs that were illegally using our images. Today the attorney general and a crew of police marched into our student newspapers office with a search warrant and threatened to take all of our computers and documents if we did not turn over the images that we took from the riots. Our Editor-In-Chief ended up handing over the images so our paper could at least continue to run and we are currently working with the SPLC and our legal advisors to figure out the entire situation and the legality and options we have. |
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Andrew Nelles, Photographer
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Chicago | IL | usa | Posted: 5:13 PM on 04.16.10 |
| ->> Wow, keep us posted. |
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Mark Loundy, Photo Editor
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San Jose | CA | USA | Posted: 7:22 PM on 04.16.10 |
->> The Attorney General personally? Or one of his deputies?
--Mark |
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Albert Brown, Photographer
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 8:39 PM on 04.16.10 |
| ->> Any idea if the AG and police have executed similar search warrants at the local papers who covered the riots? |
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Brian Blanco, Photographer
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Tampa / Sarasota | FL | USA | Posted: 9:29 PM on 04.16.10 |
| ->> Robert- Be very careful about anything you say on here from this point out. |
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Robert Boag, Student/Intern
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Mark Loundy, Photo Editor
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San Jose | CA | USA | Posted: 10:51 PM on 04.16.10 |
->> It was a state's attorney who was present at the raid -- not the Attorney General.
--Mark |
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Robert Boag, Student/Intern
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Harrisonburg | VA | US | Posted: 10:59 PM on 04.16.10 |
| ->> Yes sorry for that mistake I wrote it a little sloppy right after it happened. It was the State Attorney based in Harrisonburg sorry for the confusion. |
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Al Goldis, Photographer
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East Lansing | MI | USA | Posted: 12:11 PM on 04.17.10 |
| ->> I am anything but a legal expert but the first thing that comes to mind is that in addition to the attorney's office, the judge who approved the search warrant might also find himself in a bit of hot water. |
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Nina Zhito, Photographer
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bay area | CA | | Posted: 12:46 PM on 04.17.10 |
| ->> goodness, what a lot of lessons here. the search warrant confiscation of gear and demand for images is itself disturbing. a way bigger issue that should get some national attention. |
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John Korduner, Photographer
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Baton Rouge | LA | United States | Posted: 12:18 PM on 04.19.10 |
->> It looks like an uphill battle, the warrant merely required probable cause...and the editor's argument that the paper should've been allowed to argue against the the warrant only applies to section 4(B).
The clause that stood out to me was...
"(3) there is reason to believe that the giving of notice
pursuant to a subpena duces tecum would result in the
destruction, alteration, or concealment of such materials" |
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Robert Boag, Student/Intern
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Harrisonburg | VA | US | Posted: 12:22 PM on 04.19.10 |
->> Letter from the SPJ today
For immediate release:
4/19/2010
Contacts:
Kevin Smith, SPJ President, 3004-367-4864, ksmith@spj.org
Sue Kopen Katcef, SPJ Campus Adviser At-Large, 301-405-7526, skatcef@spj.org
Neil Ralston, SPJ Vice President of Campus Chapter Affairs, 270-745-5841, nralston@spj.org
SPJ is outraged by police raid of student newspaper in Virginia
INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Professional Journalists condemns the raid made by Virginia police and Marsha Garst, Commonwealth's Attorney for Rockingham County and the City of Harrisonburg, of the James Madison University student newspaper, The Breeze. According to The Roanoke Times, officers confiscated more than 900 photographs, over 600 of which were of the Springfest riot on April 10. The following is a letter the Society sent to Garst:
Marsha L. Garst
Commonwealth's Attorney for Rockingham County and the City of Harrisonburg
Judicial Center
53 Court Square
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
(540) 564-3350
mgarst@rockinghamcountyva.gov
Dear Ms. Garst:
The leadership of the Society of Professional Journalists is outraged by your actions when you barged into the offices of The Breeze at James Madison University on Friday, April 16, 2010 and seized over 900 published and unpublished photos from the newsroom. We are especially troubled that your actions appeared to have violated the federal Privacy Protection Act of 1980.
The office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney has trampled on the freedom of the press by trying to use this media outlet as an arm of law enforcement. In a democratic society it is vital to have an unfettered press free to exercise the First Amendment without fear of government intervention.
We recognize the need to investigate an out-of-control public event where crimes may have been committed but there are more appropriate tools available to law enforcement than to bully the student newspaper.
We would like to point out that your own state’s constitution says that, “The freedoms of speech and of the press are among the great bulwarks of liberty and can never be restrained except by despotic governments.”
We ask that you return ALL of the materials, as well as copies, taken during your raid and issue an apology to the student newspaper, its staff and the University community.
Sincerely,
Kevin Smith
SPJ President
Sue Kopen Katcef
SPJ Campus Adviser At-Large
George Daniels
SPJ Campus Adviser At-Large
Neil Ralston
SPJ Vice President of Campus Chapter Affairs
Bill McCloskey
SPJ Director At-Large |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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| | | Posted: 6:31 PM on 04.19.10 |
| ->> Anyone notice the SPJ President's phone number in the release is wrong? It has to many numbers... should be area code "304" |
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Robert Boag, Student/Intern
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Jimmy Hickey, Student/Intern, Assistant
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Seattle | WA | USA | Posted: 4:21 PM on 06.02.10 |
| ->> Good to hear things ended on a pretty positive note. Really interesting ordeal thanks for bringing it to our attention. |
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Steel Brooks, Student/Intern
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Missoula | MT | United States | Posted: 6:13 PM on 11.11.10 |
| ->> Sorry to dig up an old topic, but I'm writing a paper on the relationship between police and journalists, and I was wondering if anyone know the specific law's that came into play in this situation. Any help would be great. |
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Robert Boag, Student/Intern, Photo Editor
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Harrisonburg | VA | US | Posted: 2:11 AM on 11.12.10 |
->> Hey Steel,
Send me a message. I can give you all the details. |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Denver | CO | USA | Posted: 9:29 AM on 11.12.10 |
->> Ending on a positive note?
The police got what they wanted - photos they could use to chase people down (does anyone REALLY believe they didn't look at those photos or make copies before giving the "sealed discs" to a "third party"?). After several months they shelled out $10,000 of - oh yeah - taxpayer dollars - to "settle" the issue. Nobody in the police department or the Attorney General's office was fired, suspended, arrested, thrown in jail, nothing.
So where's the deterrent? Why wouldn't the police and the AG try the exact same thing, especially now? No one was held responsible. No one has a "blemish" on their record. No careers are threatened. Nothing.
On the other hand, had the newspaper staff challenged the warrant at the time of the seizure and it wasn't done EXACTLY right, they could have gone to jail. Even if the original seizure was ruled invalid/illegal/etc. the staff STILL could have been held on charges of obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, etc. depending on what they did to resist police efforts.
So again, how is this a happy ending? Law enforcement risked little to nothing, got what they wanted for the cost of a $10,000 fine an apology, while a student newspaper could have been shut down and employees arrested and thrown in jail for not complying.
I see nothing happy about this outcome. |
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Jeff Stanton, Photographer
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Princeton | IN | USA | Posted: 1:12 PM on 11.12.10 |
->> In a statement Garst apologized "for the fear and concern that I caused the Breeze and its staff. The discussions that have occurred have enhanced my understanding and re-enforced the role of a free press in our democracy." Garst said that in the future, when seeking information and documents from news organizations, including student media, she will do so through the subpoena process.
She has got to be kidding. She knew how the process worked and went around it. Any first year law student knows how the process works. She and the police trampled on the rights of the student newspaper without due process. Period. |
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