Reason has long been on the forefront of stories about
your right to film and take photographs, even if cops or other
officials might not like it. Alas, cops and officials aren’t
reading Reason often enough.
Case in point, a $1.2 million in compensatory damages from
Suffolk County awarded this week to Nancy Genovese for what she
says she suffered at the hands of Suffolk County police, after
being arrested essentially for taking pictures of a military
helicopter.
Details from
Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
[Genovese’s lawyer] Long Island civil rights attorney Frederick
Brewington. “There is no reason to treat another human the way they
treated her.”He claimed Suffolk County sheriff’s deputies humiliated Nancy
Genovese after arresting her in July 2009 while she took
photographs of a decorative helicopter on display outside the
Gabreski Airport Air National Guard base in Westhampton Beach, on
eastern Long Island. A deputy sheriff allegedly said he would
arrest her for terrorism to make an example of other “right
wingers,” according to Brewington.“Ms. Genovese was subjected to a level of abuse because they did
not share the same political views as she did and saw this as an
excuse to deny her even the most basic civil rights,” said
Brewington.The jury award Thursday was for compensatory damages. It will
now consider punitive damages.A spokeswoman for Suffolk County declined to comment, citing the
ongoing litigation.Genovese, 58, of East Quogue, was jailed for four days before
posting $50,000 bail. The charge, on a misdemeanor count of
criminal trespass, was dismissed in November 2009.
It’s a shame that taxpayers have to be on the hook for the
criminal actions of their “servants” but it’s still good when
citizens let police know that there will be some consequences for
rights violations.
A very elaborate account, from Genovese’s perspective, of
what she says she suffered from the cops can be found
on the Personal Liberty website back in May
2012. It is very based, she claims, in animus toward her for being
perceived as a “right winger” and “teabagger.”
Details from a
Murtha and Murtha law firm account from when the arrest was
fresh:
Nancy Genovese stopped her car on the side of the road across
the street from the airport in an area that is open and accessible
to the public, and crossed over the road to the airport entryway
that is also open and accessible to the public to take a picture of
the helicopter display. While still in her car, she took a picture
of the decorative helicopter shell with the intention of posting it
on her personal “Support Our Troops” web page.
As Nancy Genovese was preparing to drive away, she was stopped
and approached by Robert Iberger, a lieutenant with the Southampton
Town Police. Lieutenant Iberger demanded to know why she was taking
photographs. Nancy showed the lieutenant her camera, but Lieutenant
Iberger grabbed her camera and handled it “without care”. In an
attempt to prevent the lieutenant from damaging the camera, Nancy
removed her memory card, which Lieutenant Iberger confiscated. To
date, Nancy’s memory card still has not been returned to her.
Iberger called the County sheriff’s office on her, and then
other agencies arrived:
Nancy was questioned on the side of the road for
approximately five to six hours, from about 6pm until midnight,
denied food or water, and denied the opportunity to use a restroom,
all without having received any warnings as to her
rights….earlier that day Nancy had been to the
local shooting range with her rifle practicing her hobby, target
shooting. During the first hour of questioning, Lieutenant Iberger
searched Nancy’s vehicle, without her consent, and came across her
unloaded rifle, which Nancy was legally carrying, in a locked
case….Using force, Lieutenant Iberger pushed Nancy Genovese when she
objected to the seizure of her rifle. Deputy Carlock taunted Nancy,
asking in a disparaging tone, “You’re a real right winger, aren’t
you?”, and stating in words or substance that she was never going
to see her rifle again.
While in custody, her family claimed, over five thousand dollars
in cash she had on her, intended to pay private school tuition,
disappeared from her purse. She had a fresh leg wound they did not
care for in custody, leading, she claimed, to a staph infection.
She also said she was placed for no good reason on “suicide watch,”
forcibly restrained, and injected with drugs.
The jury in her eight-day case considered her story credible
enough for the hefty compensatory damage award, and again all
charges were eventually dropped.
Hat tip: Mark Sletten
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