Another Run-In

Had another legally dubious encounter with the MBTA. This time with a few police officers.

After exiting the Red Line car at Harvard station I was stopped by an MBTA employee with a walkie-talkie and told to stop taking pictures. My ID was requested. I refused the request and asked if I was being detained. He said detaining me was not within his power so I left the station and headed to work. After dropping off my laptop and bag, and explaining what happened, I returned to Harvard station to obtain the ID# of the employee who stopped me.

The employees provided their ID info but they also called the cops. I was told, in front of perhaps a half-dozen witnesses that shooting was illegal and, in fact, a "federal crime." I was informed I would not be allowed to take photographs and would be asked to leave if I did.

I was told by an MBTA police officer that the MBTA was "pseudo-public" property (it isn't, the MBTA is a public corporation), that the MBTA was an "authority" in the context of having rights that supersede my 1st Amendment and 16th Article right to freedom of expression (they don't), that the MBTA is not public property since it "does not receive all of its funding from taxes" but the same argument could be made for the government itself (they also receive income from fines and permits, for example).

Finally, he insisted the MBTA policy against photography was a written one. It isn't and it's a simple matter to verify for yourself.

My property was seized while I was not under arrest. This is both illegal and pretty stupid because if I were a terrorist -- and that notebook contained, say, my bomb-planting spots -- it would now be inadmissible.

I was told that the action of taking pictures, asking for employee ID numbers of the staff I interacted with and being on private property were all "reasonable suspicion" to compel production of an ID upon demand.

On advice from counsel, I will not relate the exact, gory details of the full event. The particulars were immediately recorded and the transcript was sent to the ACLU. And this all took place smack-dab in the middle of the Harvard subway station atrium which is downright spilling over with cameras, I'm sure, so I don't expect there will be much argument over the facts.

More later.