first amendment
LPR Companies Going Too Far?
Editorial Opinion By John Chigos, Founder, Chairman & CEO at PlateSmart Technologies, Inc. Digital Recognition Network (DRN) of Texas and their partner company, Vigilant Solutions of California, have filed a new lawsuit in Arkansas District Court. The suit contends that Arkansas?s recently passed Anti-LPR law (Arkansas Automatic License Plate Reader System Act 1491) banning the […]
Californians Overwhelmingly Support Use Of License Plate Readers, New Survey Finds
The majority of Californians agree that license plate reader (LPR)technology helps law enforcement solve crimes and any restrictions on who can photograph license plates would be unacceptable, according to a new poll conducted by Zogby Analytics and commissioned by Vigilant Solutions. The poll of 800 California residents, conducted during the first week in April, showed […]
Police State USA
For the first time ever, Congress has decided has crafted a piece of legislation that determines whether or not a person is a journalist, in a bill designed to give federal protection to journalists and bloggers from being forced to disclose the identities of their confidential sources. This would mean that before the government could ask a news organization or a journalist to identify their sources, it must first go to a federal judge, who would supervise any subpoenas or court orders for the information. But the legislation comes with a catch. In order for a person to be protected under the bill, one must first meet the criteria for being termed a “journalist” — and even then, journalists will not be protected in all situations. Though freedom of speech, which includes the printed word, is protected under the First Amendment, media shield laws are supposed to go above and beyond in terms of protecting a journalist from being forced to disclose confidential information and sources. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill, the Free Flow of Information Act of 2013 , on Thursday in a 13-5 vote . Though most states have their own media shield laws, they vary in terms of protections for reporters. If the legislation passes, this would be the first federal media shield law. At the urging of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee defined what they considered “journalism” as well as who qualified to be labeled as a “journalist.” Feinstein said legal protection […]