Pixiq

When the security guard ordered him to stop while he was on public property he should have simply kept driving. That would have been the end of it.

The first thing he should do now is get a good un-delete program and not take any more pictures before running it on that memory card.

I bet he can get every single picture back.

The security guard certainly had no right to detain the photographer, and the trooper had no right to demand that the photos be deleted.

Are there not devices that enable a photographer to upload images directly from a camera to someplace else, thus foiling the demand of a police officer that the photos be deleted?

Anyone and everyone who lives anywhere close needs to go take pictures of this plant.

Might be time for a letter to the Governor.

Last time PA state troopers stepped on a citizen like this they had to cough up $2500 each out of their own pockets.

Time for this to be $250,000 out of pocket. Put this trooper's family out on the street, homeless.

Middle of nowhere PA... still would be a good place for a photographers meetup!

He should definitely try to recover those photos. If he can't recover them, go back and take more pictures from further away, where the idiot guards can't see.
Either way he should them post them all over the internet.

The security company I'm sure would claim that such photography is illegal under federal law, but my reading of it suggests that one has to be *o*n the property for it to apply.

Specifically 42 USC 2278b

[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode42/usc_sec_42_00002278---b000-.html]

It shall be an offense, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both—
(1) to make any photograph, ... or graphical representation, ***while present on property subject to the jurisdiction, administration or in the custody of the Commission***, of any installations or equipment designated by the President as requiring protection against the general dissemination of information relative thereto, in the interest of the common defense and security, without first obtaining the permission of the Commission, and promptly submitting the product obtained to the Commission for inspection or such other action as may be deemed necessary; or

[emphasis added by asterisks]

Photos from the public road wouldn't seem to apply under this particular law at all, so the police and security were in the wrong to make any such demands. They have the right to inquire and ask questions, the guy had the right to refuse to answer anything.

Deleting the pictures is a worthless gesture since there are so many freeware undelete programs out there that make recovery simple.

In my photo bag at all times I carry a copy of the important laws of which you should be aware; 32 CFR 705.10 (involving photography of Naval facilities), the photographer's rights card [http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm], 39 CFR 232.1 [postal regulations], and 41 usc § 102-74.420 [federal property regulations regarding photography], and 18 USC section 795 [photography of defense installations].

Yet another example where obeying a policeman has lasting results. The policeman ordered the man to delete his photos. That was clearly an illegal order. There was no legal reason for the man to delete his photos.

However, if the man disobeyed the policeman, he likely would have been beaten and put in a cage, and has his camera taken from him.

But now, since the man did obey the policeman, he can't go "fight it in court" -- the photos are already gone. So what now?

The choice here is wrong -- either obey an unlawful order and lose the photos, or be subject to a beating, jail, or even death. Why are we faced with such a choice in America today?