Though the need for heightened security around federal buildings is understandable, it is clear from the guidelines that the government cannot arrest people simply for taking pictures on public property. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Issues The U. Legal System U. Foreign Policy U. Liberal Politics U. Tom Murse. Therefore, we encourage anyone who is planning to photograph or film outside a federal building to carry a copy of the memo as a precaution.
If approached by security, you can calmly educate them about your rights. Then take as many pictures as you like. Learn more about your rights: Subscribe to our newsletter , follow us on Twitter , and friend us on Facebook.
Speak Freely. Until you ask to leave, your being stopped is considered voluntary under the law and is legal. If you are detained, politely ask what crime you are suspected of committing, and remind the officer that taking photographs is your right under the First Amendment and does not constitute reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
Special considerations when videotaping: With regards to videotaping, there is an important legal distinction between a visual photographic record fully protected and the audio portion of a videotape, which some states have tried to regulate under state wiretapping laws.
Such laws are generally intended to accomplish the important privacy-protecting goal of prohibiting audio "bugging" of private conversations. However, in nearly all cases audio recording the police is legal. In states that allow recording with the consent of just one party to the conversation, you can tape your own interactions with officers without violating wiretap statutes since you are one of the parties. In situations where you are an observer but not a part of the conversation, or in states where all parties to a conversation must consent to taping, the legality of taping will depend on whether the state's prohibition on taping applies only when there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
But that is the case in nearly all states, and no state court has held that police officers performing their job in public have a reasonable expectation. The state of Illinois makes the recording illegal regardless of whether there is an expectation of privacy, but the ACLU of Illinois is challenging that statute in court as a violation of the First Amendment.
The ACLU believes that laws that ban the taping of public officials' public statements without their consent violate the First Amendment. A summary of state wiretapping laws can be found here. Photography at the airport Photography has also served as an important check on government power in the airline security context.
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