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December 12, 2005
Photography Law - Part I
This is a series of postings I made on Flickr. The discussions always seemed to collapse into adolescent drivel, but I hosted my posts as static content and they actually get some good Google searches, so I'm reposting them here to solicit your comments and further the conversation. Thanks for reading.
From Sensitive Photographs
I believe the Supreme Court's ruling in Crawford v. Washington was that recordings, such as written letters, tapes, and photographs, may not stand on their own as evidence. This is based on the Sixth Amendment, which states the accused has the right "to be confronted with all witnesses". Insofar as the photographer is the actual witness a photograph is admissable only if the photographer is willing to take the stand or is subpoenaed. In the case that was heard I believe the particular argument was that the defense can't cross-examine an audio tape.
The Crawford v. Washington opinion is an interesting read in and of itself, particularly the discussion of Sir Walter Raleigh's conviction based in part on the reading of a letter written by a witness who did not appear before that court. This quote is also interesting, coming from the conservative Judge Scalia "The Framers, however, would not have been content to indulge... They knew that judges, like other government officers, could not always be trusted to safeguard the rights of the people".
Posted by Niels Olson at December 12, 2005 5:38 PM
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