Full Name : Shawn Nee; Greggory Moore; Shane Quentin; and the National Photographers' Rights Organization v. County of Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department; Sergeant Maurice Hill, in his individual capacity; Deputy Richard Gylfie, in his individual capacity; Deputy Bayes, in his individual capacity; and Does 1 through 10, inclusive.
Case Number : CV1108899
Court : United States District Court for the Central District of California
Photography is not a crime. It’s protected First Amendment expression. But that hasn’t stopped deputies of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department from detaining and searching photographers, solely based on the fact they are taking pictures in public places, and ordering photographers not to take pictures on public streets and other public places where photography is not prohibited. But these searches and detentions the violate both the First Amendment right to photograph, and the Fourth Amendment right to be free on unlawful searches and detentions.
On October 27, 2011, the ACLU of Southern California and the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP filed suit on behalf of three plaintiffs, who between them have been detained or ordered not to photograph by LASD deputies on at least six occasions, as well the National Photographers’ Rights Organization. The complaint details similar incidents involving others, from amateur photographers to veteran photojournalists. The lawsuit alleges that the detentions have occurred as part of the LASD’s program on LASD deputies detained and searched Shawn Nee for photographing turnstiles on the Los Angeles Metro, asking if he planned to sell the photos to al-Qaeda and threatening to put his name on the FBI’s “hit list.” LASD deputies detained and searched Shane Quentin, a photographer with an M.F.A. from UC Irvine, while he was photographing brilliantly lit refineries in south Los Angeles at night, frisking him and placing him in the back of a squad car for about forty-five minutes before releasing him.