Photographing Farms in Florida (say that 3 times fast)
March 2nd, 2011 by Alicia Calzada and tagged Access, first amendment, Legal, Mickey Osterreicher, national press photographers association, photojournalism, trespassing, video
A member brought it to our attention that a proposed bill in Florida would make it illegal to photograph a farm or other agricultural property without written consent of the owner. The language of the bill is worded broadly enough that a photographer making images of a farm from a public place would be committing a felony. We contacted the offices of the author of the bill and NPPA Attorney Mickey Osterreicher has received assurances from staff members that the bill is being amended to specifically relate to trespassers on private property.
We will monitor this closely, but photographers should be aware that even if the changes are made, this bill may still require written consent from the owner of any agricultural facility, whose property you are on, to allow any photography or videography and you may need to bring consent forms with you on assignments. This could put the subjects of stories in a bargaining position that interferes with objective reporting. Even with changes to clarify the public property exception, an element of the crime is photography which makes me very uncomfortable. We will continue to monitor.
Posted in First Amendment, Florida, Legal, photojournalism, trespass | 6 Comments »
March 4th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Is this really what we want our elected officials to be working on? They can’t find any more pressing problems than this to solve? Time for new elected officials!
March 8th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Iowa is exploring similar legislation this term
http://www.easterniowagovernment.com/2011/03/02/bill-targets-efforts-to-disparage-agricultures-image/
Iowa bills: SF341/HF431
March 9th, 2011 at 9:00 am
Alicia,
Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on this. I’m interested to hear why a bill like this would even be needed. What brought it on?
March 9th, 2011 at 10:23 am
America: Land of the Free? or now Land of the Fee? This proposed law reminds one of the Soviet Communist countries practices years ago. You would be arrested and your camera and film (remember that?)confiscated if you took pictures at a train station or port.
What’s GROWING in America these days.
(notes from Canada!)
March 16th, 2011 at 11:12 am
Isn’t criminal trespass enough? Why is this bill needed?
March 16th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Thanks for this news, Alicia. But I’m curious about the motivation for the bill. My guess is that it’s directed against animal rights people who have taken videos showing the mistreatment of animals on factory farms. I would appreciate having some confirmation and knowing more about why the sponsor thinks this bill is necessary.
I am concerned about the threat to the First Amendment rights of photographers, but I am equally concerned about the political Right’s attempts to criminalize the efforts of animal rights activists to expose the inhumane treatment of animals. Whatever its motivation(s) the end result of such a bill becoming law would be to deny important visual knowledge — however disturbing — to the American people.
Claude Cookman