It’s been almost three years now since Commissioner Charles Ramsey issued a directive to Philly Police, letting them know that it’s entirely legal for the public to record officers doing their work and making arrests — as long as the photographer doesn’t interfere with that police work.
It seems his officers still haven’t gotten the message, reports Philadelphia Magazine’s Joel Mathis. The ACLU today announced another lawsuit — the fifth in a series — against the department on behalf of a woman who was physically restrained from recording officers arresting a protestor.
The plaintiff, Amanda Geraci, a professional psychotherapist and a trained legal observer who was monitoring an anti-fracking protest outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center on September 21, 2012, is represented by Molly Tack-Hooper and Mary Catherine Roper of the ACLU-PA; John Grogan and Peter Leckman of Langer, Grogan & Diver, P.C.; Jonathan Feinberg of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, & Feinberg; and Seth Kreimer of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.