Suit Filed Against Lafayette Police Over Photo Deletion
Where do my rights end and your rights begin? I suppose that's the reason that we have laws and a judicial system in this country. Perhaps a more perplexing question along those lines are where do the rights of individuals end and the rights of government begin.
What about the rights of individuals serving as government employees? Are their personal rights diminished by their role of service to their community?
That is a question that the American Civil Liberties Union hopes to have answered by the federal courts. The ACLU has filed a suit in the Western District of U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana. The suit stems from an incident involving an underage minor, Lafayette Police, a photograph, and the deletion of that photograph from a personal cell phone.
You might have wondered when is it legal to photograph someone? When is it legal to photograph an officer of the law? Does law enforcement or any government agency have the right to delete a photograph off of a mobile device without due process?
These are some of the answers the ACLU hopes to resolve. In the eyes of many citizens, clarity on the law and the execution and enforcement of laws that are already on the books in the State of Louisiana are not spelled out succinctly.
The case was filed on behalf of a woman who photographed her minor son being held in custody by a Lafayette Officer. The suit alleges that the officer took the cellphone from the woman and deleted the picture from her phone without permission or due process.
The Lafayette Police Department has not offered a comment on this ongoing situation.