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ASNE joins letter seeking repeal of Atlanta ordinance

 
ASNE was one of 12 organizations that joined together on a letter to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in effort to protest the Atlanta Police Department's recent harassment of a photographer and to request the revocation of a city ordinance, which likely emboldened the officer in question.  
 
ASNE was one of 12 organizations that joined together on a letter to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in effort to protest the Atlanta Police Department's recent harassment of a photographer and to request the revocation of a city ordinance, which likely emboldened the officer in question.  
 
This is the latest in a serious of such occurrences in which Atlanta officers have cited a city ordinance, which states that "the taking of photographs of persons on the streets in front of the place of business of another without the written consent of the other shall be deemed an offense under this section, whether or not a charge is made at the time of taking the photographs, if the photographs are taken for the purpose of sale." Earlier this week, a photographer taking photos on a city street was threatened with arrest and the confiscation of his camera.
 
The idea the city would criminalize the taking of pictures of others on public streets with the intention of later sale certainly seems wildly unconstitutional as it would prohibit photography of any kind on public streets. The letter basically notes the blatantly unconstitutional nature of the regulation while also noting that it will only serve to heighten the tension between photographers (and reporters) and law enforcement at a time when we cannot afford such tension.  

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