As mentioned earlier, this link can be used to send comments to the MTA on their proposed photography ban throughout the NY public transportation system — a ban that will not deter terrorism but which will restrict the rights of typical photographers and tourists throughout the metropolitan area.
Comments can be emailed directly from that page. Scroll down to "Click Here to e-mail your comments on the proposed changes to the Rules of Conduct" to send your own comment. Here is mine:
Photography Should Not Be Banned
The proposed restrictions on photography and photographers will waste many tens of thousands of transit system dollars in ongoing legal fees -- it will surely be contested on constitutional grounds, leading to a large public legal expense. And for what? The proposed change does not lead to heightened security for anyone — terrorists can still legally carry guns. The possible surreptitious use of small cel-phone and video cameras by criminals will not be affected in the least. And the MTA has yet to cite even one credible scenario of how photography would be a genuine threat to the MTA or the public (hence the inevitable First Amendment challenges).
The proposal does nothing to enhance security, but instead will LOWER security — MTA Police would end up wasting time chasing and ticketing obvious photographers, who would not be terrorists but in every case normal citizens and tourists who do not pose any threat to the MTA system or the public. This load on the officers' time will deter them from their proper security duties while at the same time harming New York's tourist trade and reputation. And it will further reduce public safety because terrorist activities seen by the public will now become harder to document — while terrorists would be able to handily photograph their victims, the citizenry would not be able to record the actions of public enemies.
A camera is not a gun, it is instead a basic means of expression in our modern society. To restrict the public's ability to use their First Amendment Rights of expression is a grave and serious task, one that can and should only be undertaken if there is great surety that such restriction is in the public interest. No such surety exists. This proposal is NOT in the public interest, or even in the interest of the MTA. The restrictions on photography should be stricken from the proposal.
What's your comment?
Posted December 13, 2004 07:41 AM