|
Heritage
Foundation
'I
Know My Rights': Woman Jailed After Filming Traffic Stop
Evan
Bernick
February
22, 2014
Brandy
Berning spent the night behind bars. And it’s all because she knew
her rights, and insisted that they be respected.
Her
“crime”? Using a cell phone to film a traffic stop.
According
to the Florida Sun-Sentinel, Lieutenant William O’Brien, a deputy
with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, pulled Brandy over after
she allegedly drove in the HOV lane at the wrong time. She began
filming the traffic stop. Lieutenant O’Brien then told Brandy that
she had just committed a felony and demanded that she hand over her
phone. She refused, insisting at one point in the recording, “I
know my rights.” Brandy claims Lieutenant O’Brien tried to force
her from the car, spraining her wrist. He ultimately hauled her into
custody and to jail where she spent the night.
Simply
put, the Constitution guarantees Brandy the freedom to do precisely
what she did. Brandy knew her rights, and they were violated.
The
First Amendment protects the right to record and report upon matters
of public interest, regardless of whether one is a member of the
press. It prevents the government from limiting the stock of
information available to the public, as well as covering up overly
aggressive police tactics. As the U.S. Supreme Court stated in Near
v. Minnesota, “In determining the extent of the constitutional
protection [of the press], it has generally, if not universally,
considered that it is the chief purpose of the guaranty to prevent
previous restraints.” Thus, federal courts that have considered the
issue have held that citizens have a constitutional right to film
officers who are performing their duties in public places, subject to
reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions.
Troublingly,
Brandy’s treatment cannot be dismissed as an isolated incident. We
wrote about Heather Thomas, who used a cell phone to videotape the
arrest of her husband Thomas on her own property. Although she did
not interfere with police in any way, an officer took the cell phone
from her and later commanded her to delete the footage.
As in
Heather’s case, there is no claim that Brandy interfered with the
officer. While officers can take reasonable measures to protect
themselves, Brandy’s actions posed no threat.
The
police did not charge Brandy, and released her the following day. But
she never should have endured this ordeal in the first place. Cell
phones are becoming an increasingly important means of documenting
information and allowing police to arbitrarily cut off our ability to
film their activities would deprive us of an extremely valuable means
of protecting our civil liberties. We must, therefore, insist that
the police cannot treat citizens this way, and hold accountable those
who do.
Brandy
is now suing the Broward County Sheriff’s Office in connection with
the arrest. We look forward to seeing her rights vindicated.
Read this and other
articles at the Heritage Foundation
|
