Photography & Surveillance

It is clear that the post-9/11 world is paranoid, suspicious, and has the tendency to overreact.  I am not saying that America does not have reason for these strong reactions towards recording audio and visual scenarios, but I do believe these responses lead to some unjust prosecutions.  Referring to the artist facing fifteen years in jail for recording his own arrest without consent from the commanding officer doing the arresting, I believe the artist is receiving an unjust punishment.  Granted, laws are laws; I am not disputing that.  I am, however, calling attention to the asinine use of official power to punish a street vendor illegally selling silk-screen patches for $1.  To punish this artist not for the illegality of his product sales, but for recording the arrest is just ridiculous.  Another example:  The recording of police misconduct.  The action of recording, itself, may be illegal, but the actions the police are partaking in are equally as illegal, yet the videos are discarded because they were technically illegally recorded.  This just goes to show that we might be coming down harder on the law since the 9/11 attacks, but our punishment for crime just might be displaced.