I Need Legal Help

I have seen the Anderson Cooper media show saying that it was illegal to photo or film the gulf.
I have also heard all sorts of people say and read interviews that say it is a $40,000 fine and a felony charge to do so.
What I cannot find is an actual Law or Real Legal statement of some sort that says we cannot film in the gulf.
Could this media ban just be a media lie?
And after all is said and done AC will say oops I misunderstood.
Any help here anyone?

reply to post by g146541


Under the constitution, You can photograph and write about anything you want, as long as you are not invading private property. The gulf is far from being "private property". If I could organize it, I would have hundreds of thousand of people invade the beaches of the gulf, with cameras and respirators, to document every single action taken by every single BP employee.

reply to post by dreamwalker74


The only exeption to this would be copywrite laws. You cant go to a movie theater, film the movie, and then distribute it to the general public. Once again this has no bearing in any way to the Gulf of Mexico.

reply to post by g146541


This explanation was given out by the Coast Guard in May:

"UPDATE: Rob Wyman, the Lieutenant Commander of the USCG Deepwater Horizon Unified Command Joint Information Center has sent us a statement in response to this incident."

"Neither BP nor the U.S. Coast Guard, who are responding to the spill, have any rules in place that would prohibit media access to impacted areas and we were disappointed to hear of this incident. In fact, media has been actively embedded and allowed to cover response efforts since this response began, with more than 400 embeds aboard boats and aircraft to date. Just today 16 members of the press observed clean-up operations on a vessel out of Venice, La. The only time anyone would be asked to move from an area would be if there were safety concerns, or they were interfering with response operations. This did occur off South Pass Monday which may have caused the confusion reported by CBS. The entities involved in the Deepwater Horizon/BP Response have already reiterated these media access guidelines to personnel involved in the response and hope it prevents any future confusion."

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com...

Awful lot of pictures out there of the spill and dead animals for it to be a felony to take them.

reply to post by manta78


I have read about this incident and seen the video.
What I am looking for is the law in question that makes it a felony.
I believe this "Law" to be propaganda.
My biggest problem with this lie is the claim that it is a $40,000 fine.
I think that is what truly keeps people away is the thought of losing their money.
I need the actual law not media stories.

reply to post by g146541


There is a safety zone around operations which clarifies the
matter and outlines the fine:

"NEW ORLEANS - The Captains of the Port for Morgan City, La., New Orleans, La., and Mobile, Ala. , under the authority of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act, has established a 20- meter safety zone surrounding all Deepwater Horizon booming operations and oil response efforts taking place in Southeast Louisiana.

Vessels must not come within 20 meters of booming operations, boom, or oil spill response operations under penalty of law.

The safety zone has been put in place to protect members of the response effort, the installation and maintenance of oil containment boom, the operation of response equipment and protection of the environment by limiting access to and through deployed protective boom.

In areas where vessels operators cannot avoid the 20-meter rule, they are required to be cautious of boom and boom operations by transiting at a safe speed and distance.

Violation of a safety zone can result in up to a $40,000 civil penalty. Willful violations may result in a class D felony.

Permission to enter any safety zone must be granted by the Coast Guard Captain of the Port of New Orleans by calling 504-846-5923."


For information about the response effort, visit www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.

Source: www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com...



So it sounds like unless you are going to violate the safety zone of 20 meters or 65.6 feet, you should not have any problem with photography or filming in the area. If I were going to do some photojournalism, I would print out copies of the Coast Guard response from May, and this memo and keep a copy in your back pocket, and tell Anderson Cooper to do the same.





[edit on 12-7-2010 by manta78]

reply to post by manta78


I follow the link to a BP page that says.
Nope you can't do that.
I am looking for legal proof.
Something that is undeniable.
(Edit) I am looking for an official statement also and/or Not a story that says so and so says.

[edit on 12-7-2010 by g146541]

reply to post by g146541


There is no prohibtion except within the safety zone. Call this number if any questions:

"Permission to enter any safety zone must be granted by the Coast Guard Captain of the Port of New Orleans by calling 504-846-5923."


Source: www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com...

[edit on 12-7-2010 by manta78]

reply to post by manta78


You have a good nose and everything you have shown is where I got stuck.
As far as I know Military holds no Legal sway over me.
So I would assume military laws pertain to military.
Unless if they have made said area a Martial law zone.
Dunno.
But still I am unable to find the exact law.

You are allowed in all public areas if you stay that 65ft away from boomes and other clean up efforts. Thing is thought that if there is a shot there and you can't take it from far you're screwed. I believe it was up to 40.000$ fine or jail if you go closer.
If you go there take on of those point and shoot small cameras and hang it from your neck. The kind that shoots video. Prefertably one that doesn't have indicators that it's on. If you are apporoached or stalked by security put it on record for your defense in case they try to make stuff up. If you don't have one borrow one from somebody. The idea is that when it's just hanging from your neck it appears as if it's there for backup or something and not currently being used.

reply to post by g146541


You are not ease to please are you?

Ok, one last response:

"The United States Coast Guard (USCG) guards the public, the environment, and the economic and security interests of the US. One of the country's five armed services, the USCG is uniquely empowered to enforce military and humanitarian policies and civilian law in maritime regions. The USCG operates in international waters, US coastal waters, ports, and inland waterways. Its primary roles consist of promoting maritime safety, supporting national defense, providing maritime security, protecting natural resources, and facilitating maritime transport and commerce. The USCG is part of the Department of Homeland Security and has about 40,150 men and women on active duty. Its motto is Semper Paratus (Always Ready)."

Source: www.answers.com...

And yes, before you ask, the Gulf is in a maritime region, therefore you, as a civilian, appear to be subject to their jurisdiction; but I always recommend checking with an attorney for verification on any legal questions.




[edit on 12-7-2010 by manta78]

reply to post by g146541


I think the OP has something here. I've searched through every coast guard / BP / .gov site and I cannot find any executive law document that would actually be used to prosecute someone who breaks these "restrictions" ....

Looks like big brother is just using the media to scare the public into thinking they can actually enforce this made-up law/restriction.

Edit: OK, I have some more proof that this isn't a true, prosecutable law. Click on this google search query:
edit: fixed links :-)

google search link

Now, try and click on the first and third links. 404 error/Page not found!

But, if you click on googles "Cached" link you can see the article big brother removed, for example:

cached page

in this article it quotes Adm. Allen as saying:
Thad Allen, who is overseeing the federal response to the Gulf oil spill, said that "general guidance" had been issued that there were only two reasons why the media should be prohibited from an area: "If it's a security reason or a safety reason because of personal protective equipment."


[edit on 12-7-2010 by chaakin]

[edit on 12-7-2010 by chaakin]

[edit on 12-7-2010 by chaakin]

[edit on 12-7-2010 by chaakin]

reply to post by chaakin


You got it!
There is no law that says you cannot film.
It is all propaganda to scare people away.
A psy-op.

Originally posted by g146541
reply to post by chaakin

 

You got it!
There is no law that says you cannot film.
It is all propaganda to scare people away.
A psy-op.

or a simple law requiring people stay beyond the 65 ft mark that drama queens on ATS translate into a military state which you then debunked.

Peronally, i never understood the new 'law' to be anything beyond a 65 foot rule. But drama queens love to play up benign stuff into ELEs

if a building is burning down, the police are allowed to keep you from running into the building to get photos.

I can see the parallel in this instance.

can you?