Chronology
On June 12th Chris Py was stopped from taking pictures by a security guard in downtown Silver Spring. His account of the incident and subsequent discoveries are recounted here.
On June 16th the Flickr group DC Photo Rights is created.
On June 20th Heather Goss wrote about the incident in DCist and put forth the position that Mr Py - and all of us - are free to take photographs and otherwise exercise our rights on public streets.
On June 21st The Washington Post’s Marc Fisher wrote about the incident and got a position from a Montgomery County official that’s in opposition to that conclusion. Their position, as advanced by Gary Stith, is that the land is leased to the control of a corporation that is free to place such limitations on citizens while on that land.
Later that day several writers from DC Metblogs decided that they’d sponsor a photo tour on July 4th at 12 p.m. through the “forbidden zone” and invited their readers to join them.
On June 28th, the Baltimore Sun reported, that the Downtown Silver Spring developers altered their policy to allow limited photographer access to Ellsworth Drive. That’s great, but not what we’re asking for.
Free Our Streets is asking for PFA Silver Spring LC to welcome photography, videography, and other filming on Ellsworth Drive, consistent with First Amendment rights as they would apply on any other public street.
The Downtown Silver Spring development includes $187 million in county and state funds and the once completely public property Ellsworth Drive, public investment that should come with public rights.
And so the Downtown Silver Spring Photo Walk is still on. A declaration of photographic freedom on July 4th.
On June 30th, Marc Fisher followed up on his original column by mentioning us and our walk on the 4th. He also did a great job addressing some of the problems with PFA’s revised policy and just how far it falls short of addressing the real questions.
On July 4th over 140 registered voters and Montgomery County Council, member Marc Elrich, declared photographic freedom on Ellsworth Drive through a Downtown Silver Spring Photo Walk complete with a expansive photo pool of the event.
On July 20th the Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett wrote to executives at The Peterson Companies and Foulger Pratt, that:
the county considers Ellsworth [Drive] to be a public forum permitting the free and unfettered exercise of First Amendment rights by residents of the county and its visitors to the same extent as those rights are exercisable by residents and visitors to the county on any public sidewalk or public street within the county,”
An almost word-for-word copy of the Free Our Streets goal.
On July 30th, the Montgomery County Attorney declares that:
Ellsworth Drive constitutes a public forum. Thus, PFA Silver Spring, LC may only implement reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on protected speech which are content neutral, narrowly tailored to serving a significant purpose, and which allow for reasonable alternative avenues of expression, or content-based restrictions which are narrowly tailored to serving a compelling purpose.
Enshrining the Free Our Streets goal as Montgomery County policy and requiring a court challenge to restrict First Amendment rights, like photography, in Downtown Silver Spring.