Pubdate: Sun, 14 May 2006 Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO) Copyright: 2006 The Star-Journal Publishing Corp. Contact: http://www.chieftain.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1613 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) POT PROTESTERS WANT TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS A year or so ago, writing about the proliferation of security video cameras in our society, I wrote that you should live your life as if were being videotaped - if you don't want to see it on the 10 o'clock news, then don't do it. Since then more video cameras have been installed hourly at traffic intersections, in public parks, along busy sidewalks and overlooking parking lots. They record images of people speeding on residential streets, avoiding paying the fees on toll roads, robbing people at ATM machines, assaulting homeless people sleeping on sidewalks, dealing drugs in alleyways, assaulting coeds on campuses, being stopped by state troopers on lonely stretches of highway. "Dateline NBC" has recently been airing a fascinating series of stories about on-line predators keeping their dates with adolescent girls, plying them with promises of booze, drugs and sex - all captured on videotape. And now three University of Colorado students have sued the school for taking their pictures at a pro-marijuana rally on a portion of the campus that was posted as off-limits for the demonstration. They don't like the fact that their photos were distributed on a Web site that displayed 150 protesters, offering $50 rewards for their identifications. People attending the rally passed signs that warned them they were trespassing and that police would be taking pictures of violators. Some demonstrators even posed for the police photographers working the site. And then, a few weeks later, surprise! Up pops a link to the police photo lineup on the popular Web site, facebook.com, directing viewers to the suspects' pictures and details of the rewards. And that, of course, is followed by the predictable press conference and threats of lawsuits. Here's the irony: Three women and their defense attorney show up at a press conference last week to have their pictures taken and published in the newspapers. Yes, they are looking for even more publicity, even more exposure, even wider distribution of their activities and their photos - all the time claiming that their reputations are being damaged by their participation in the demonstration. Relatively few people would ever visit the website to see pictures of the demonstrators, of course. But hundreds of thousands of people would see coverage of the press conference on TV and in the newspapers. You have to ask: Are these people trying to avoid publicity, or are they seeking it? Their attorney, of course, ignoring the obvious evidence to the contrary, says his clients are just innocent citizens who want to live normal, discreet, law-abiding lives and whose reputations have unnecessarily been sullied by the nasty police. The police "knew there were innocent people being photographed" inside the posted no-trespassing area, he said. Only a lawyer could argue that someone who is trespassing isn't trespassing. The cops decided to take the novel approach to discourage the annual pro-pot rally rather than send a bunch of officers into the crowd of 3,000 demonstrators to make arrests, a tactic that most likely would have ended with police dragging off handcuffed suspects and risking a full-blown riot. What some might find disturbing is the fact that anyone would attend such a rally, arguing that it is a public protest in a public setting and protected by First Amendment rights of free expression, and then complain that it is embarrassing or humiliating or damaging to their reputation to be identified with the cause. You might think that if a woman is so concerned about an issue, so dedicated to making a statement, so intent on supporting a political movement, that she wouldn't want to remain anonymous. But if that is the case, she should stay home. Certainly she should not attend a public rally where news coverage is guaranteed, knowingly and willingly cross into a clearly marked no-trespassing area, and mill around in a crowd where people are openly smoking dope and challenging police to arrest them. And if you believe that strongly in the cause, you shouldn't complain to be identified with it. Be proud, stand up, and have your picture taken. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman