Comments on: "I think I hear someone's liberty in danger!"

"I think I hear someone's liberty in danger!"

quin — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:36:23 -0800

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the Gregory Brothers and the ACLU have teamed up to bring attention to the issue photographer's rights in public spaces, with an animated musical piece featuring the ghost of Benjamin Franklin. [via]

By: WidgetAlley

WidgetAlley — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:38:37 -0800

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the ACLU. Two great tastes that taste great together. Also, this information becomes more and more relevant for everyone. Glad to see it's out there in as many formats as possible.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:44:18 -0800

Benjamin Franklin, paranormal photographer?

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:59:32 -0800

Ben Franklin is always trying to inform us.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:10:24 -0800

Knowing your rights is pretty important, but without knowing how to sue the police for wrongful takeage (or arrest) nothing will really change.

By: rtha

rtha — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:12:04 -0800

So it's a good thing th ACLU is involved, right? They can probably help with the suing thing.

By: zizzle

zizzle — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:23:32 -0800

I will never argue with anyone's right to take pictures in public, and I will never argue anyone's rights to breastfeed in public. But I once had a man try to take a picture of me breastfeeding in public with a camera phone because he thought it was so wonderful to see a baby "drinking her own mother's milk", and I will admit to feeling pretty creeped out by that. The picture taking, not that he thought it was wonderful.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:24:53 -0800

They can probably help with the suing thing. Hey, you are right! Maybe they can! If only they had a video about that step!

By: Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:45:15 -0800

As part of a #SunshineBloc team out Livestreaming Occupy Oakland and other political events in the Bay Area, THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME! TRANSPARENCY, AHOY!

By: Uppity Pigeon #2

Uppity Pigeon #2 — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:46:27 -0800

I will never argue with anyone's right to take pictures in public, and I will never argue anyone's rights to breastfeed in public. But I once had a man try to take a picture of me breastfeeding in public with a camera phone because he thought it was so wonderful to see a baby "drinking her own mother's milk", and I will admit to feeling pretty creeped out by that. Wait, were those his words? I'd say that makes him even creepier, but when you're working from the baseline of having "Photographing nursing mothers without their consent" on your to-do list...

By: rtha

rtha — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:57:10 -0800

Hey, you are right! Maybe they can! If only they had a video about that step! I guess I'm not getting your point.

By: zizzle

zizzle — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:16:15 -0800

Wait, were those his words? I'd say that makes him even creepier, but when you're working from the baseline of having "Photographing nursing mothers without their consent" on your to-do list... His words were more like, "Oh, look at that! It's so sweet to see a baby drinking her mother's own natural milk! How absolutely wonderful!" This is when he is across the aisle and several seats down from me, so he also drew attention to the fact I was nursing to everyone within earshot of that part of the train car. To be fair, the guy definitely appeared to have cognitive delays and he definitely seemed to have social boundary issues associated with those delays, so I tried to be polite as I put the tail of the sling over my daughter's head --- something she is usually completely opposed to, which is why it wasn't there in the first place --- and said she was trying to sleep but the lights were making it difficult to do. I mean, I felt odd about it, and I talked to Dr.E about it when I got home, and we were both, "Well, yeah. You were on the train. He was on the train. The train is a public place. He has the right to take pictures. You have the right to nurse. But even so, you just don't do that!" I don't think there was any malicious intent, but it was one of the more awkward moments of my life. And the reason I bring it up here is because it definitely made me realize the intersection of different sets of rights that isn't usually discussed, too. So it was real eye opener and made me more a proponent of the first amendment than I had been before, which is kinda hard to believe as I've always believed the first amendment is the most important of them all. When we lose sight of that, we all lose. And that's why I didn't make a big deal out of the guy taking a picture of me nursing on the train.

By: kmz

kmz — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:03:38 -0800

Man, I don't know... taking pictures in public is a right, but people have a right to refuse to model for a picture too. I mean, if somebody wants to take a picture of you discreetly from a distance, there's not much you can do, but if somebody wants to take a picture of you up close, I think it's perfectly within your rights to refuse, even if you're in public. (Obviously it's different if you're just an incidental part of the background of a picture.)

By: rtha

rtha — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:46:06 -0800

Man, I don't know... taking pictures in public is a right, but people have a right to refuse to model for a picture too. Sure, yeah, and if the photographer wants to be a dick about it, there's not necessarily much you can do about it. But if a rent-a-cop or a real cop or an Amtrak agent tells you you can't take a photo of that building (from a public sidewalk) or a photo out the window of your train, they're wrong and you're right. You might have to sue them to prove it, though.

By: Herodios

Herodios — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:36:12 -0800

A nursing mother occupies the moral high ground in pretty much any social situation. Not so, cops and wandering photographers. How the law responds is yet another thing.

By: girlmightlive

girlmightlive — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:03:36 -0800

A nursing mother occupies the moral high ground in pretty much any social situation. Not so, cops and wandering photographers. Can you expand upon this?

By: unigolyn

unigolyn — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:19:02 -0800

A nursing mother occupies the moral high ground in pretty much any social situation. Why, exactly? I'm not proposing it be illegal, but I also can't think of a convincing argument as to why we shouldn't expect people to be discreet about it. Zoologically speaking the human breast is far more than a mere nutrient dispenser (or it would, like in all other primates, not be permanently enlarged). Slapping your tits out in public because breastfeeding is natural, dammit! always strikes me as ideological posturing and little else.

By: Enron Hubbard

Enron Hubbard — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:07:21 -0800

As long as the cop doesn't get his arm caught in your camera strap, you should be okay. I mean, it's good to know your rights, but that will be a small consolation when you're laying there with a smoking hole in your forehead.

By: Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:01:09 -0800

Slapping your tits out in public because breastfeeding is natural, dammit! always strikes me as ideological posturing and little else. That's funny, I've always considered the "Dammit, keep those tits covered up in public OR ELSE!" position to be repressed, moralistic posturing, culturally-imposed body-shame, and little else.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:36:29 -0800

Always nice to be reminding of how things are supposed to be.

By: jeffburdges

jeffburdges — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:26:08 -0800

ACLU Info graphic : The NSA Unchained Yey ACLU Art! Unrelated : Denver family stranded after passport denied because of crease