Here's Another Interesting Case Concerning the First Amendment

[TedKennedy]

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/federal-court-rule-passengers-live-203000476.html
What do y'all think?
Personally, I think livestream, video, still pictures should all be protected under the First.

 

[Fro]

This could backfire on the livestreamers. I think live streaming should be protected under the first amendment. But, even though shows like COPS are recording live, they have to blur out the faces of persons who haven’t signed a release waiver to broadcast. This lawsuit has the potential to remove privacy for all persons.

 

[TedKennedy]

This could backfire on the livestreamers. I think live streaming should be protected under the first amendment. But, even though shows like COPS are recording live, they have to blur out the faces of persons who haven’t signed a release waiver to broadcast. This lawsuit has the potential to remove privacy for all persons.

If you're in public, you have no right to expect privacy, that's pretty well been established.

I'm cool with that.

 

[wawazat]

If you're in public, you have no right to expect privacy, that's pretty well been established.

I'm cool with that.

In a former life, we also had a court decision stating if it was clearly visible from a public space, there was no implied right to privacy. If you change in a room facing the street and leave the blinds and curtains open, there is no invasion of privacy if someone takes a picture from the sidewalk. Our case was specifically related to capturing images of license plates and vehicles parked in the driveway as we drove down a public street.

 

[Gadsden]

I understand the application of the 1st Amendment in this case and even though I am not saying I disagree (nor am I saying I agree) with the defendant, if this is allowed where does it end? For example, are they also going to argue it's their right to livestream victims, who may be deceased, as they are being extracted from a vehicle involved in a traffic accident? Do the victims and their families have no rights of privacy just because they are in public? Is it fair to take the chance that a family member may learn about the death of a loved one through social media just to satisfy what another person claims it is his or her right to record/livestream the scene? Just throwing this out there as a possible extension of what may happen if the court rules in favor of the defendant in this case.

 

[Johnny]

The police pull you over in a pretty obvious vehicle with flashing lights saying look at me I am a cop. What kind of argument is the attorney making that the live stream video violates the polices officers right to privacy and gives away his location to where crowds can gather.

If your afraid of repercussions for stopping somebody maybe you should not have them pulled over in the first place.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

The police pull you over in a pretty obvious vehicle with flashing lights saying look at me I am a cop. What kind of argument is the attorney making that the live stream video violates the polices officers right to privacy and gives away his location to where crowds can gather.

If your afraid of repercussions for stopping somebody maybe you should not have them pulled over in the first place.

Not really a comment on the issue at hand...just how stupid the bolded comment is.

 

[user 51785]

The police pull you over in a pretty obvious vehicle with flashing lights saying look at me I am a cop. What kind of argument is the attorney making that the live stream video violates the polices officers right to privacy and gives away his location to where crowds can gather.

If your afraid of repercussions for stopping somebody maybe you should not have them pulled over in the first place.

Guess you ain't heard about flash mobs

 

[Gadsden]

Not really a comment on the issue at hand...just how stupid the bolded comment is.

Pretty much my thoughts too...

 

[wawazat]

Not really a comment on the issue at hand...just how stupid the bolded comment is.

I definitely don't know what the right answer is for this specific situation. After seeing some completely nonsensical responses to well documented police processes over the past several years, I certainly understand the concern. Would the application of the 1A in this scenario have a similar boundary as inciting a riot with speech? If someone livestreams an interaction with law enforcement that then causes a public disruption, could that person be accused of inciting civil unrest of some sort?

I have always struggled with the dissonance between what is moral/ethical and what is legal. My views on what is moral and acceptable behavior is far beyond what I would ever want to see put on the books as law. I think someone stopping to record what may be someone's most devastating day of their life just to get some likes on social media is pretty despicable. I do not like to think about how a law trying to curb that action could become egregiously abused and ultimately really erode some core freedoms in this country.