Originally posted by JahJahwarrior ...but I'm quite good at arguing (made it to nationals in debate this last year) and love to fight things to the end, so if someone told me to stop taking pictures, I'd politely refuse until they could prove I was breaking the law. At which point, I would gladly delete any pictures I had taken while I broke any laws, but I would never let them take my camera. If they did, I'd dial 4-1-1 and ask for a lawyer, any lawyer. Right there, on the spot. I'd ask for the officers name and tell the lawyer I want to file a lawsuit against the city/state/county, whatever, to the amount of a few thousand (so it'd be in small claims court) because this officer acting on behalf of this area has taken my property. I'd be a dick about it, basically. I figure it'd be an easy lawsuit to win and even if it wasn't I'd gladly spend years in court fighting it just for fun, as long as I thought I could win and make the city pay my legal fees
Criminal law is not the "nationals in debate this last year". Real life does not resemble television.
Police do not have to prove ANYTHING to you at the time they approach you - what they will do if you push it is arrest your ass, search you, and throw you in a tank with assorted drunks, hypes, and whatever else the catch of the night is. If you want to go hand to hand with them over your camera... well, go for it. I'm sure you're a strapping 18 year old lad, but you're gonna lose - and be able to add to your 18 years of experience in the process. Don't count on calling 4-1-1 or anything else on your cellphone... it's difficult to do with your hands handcuffed behind your back. You'll get your call once you're in cells, but it will be a free call - you won't be using your cellphone. And you'll probably want to discuss the criminal charges first, not your planned civil action.
If you're REALLY lucky, they'll be so far off base in their actions that the state won't proceed with any charges, including anything like causing a disturbance or resisting arrest, or whatever. If you're REALLY, REALLY lucky, you might even have grounds for a civil action for excessive force or whatever. Police generally are given broad ammunity as long as it can be shown they were acting in a reasonable belief that what they did was appropriate to the time and situation.
If you're not so lucky, you'll be doing some jail time. Probably worse, you'll have a criminal record, possibly even a felony record. That can screw you up for life - and being a great debator back in high school won't help you one iota. In fact, your lawyer will probably tell you to keep your cakehole shut and not say anything other than "I want my lawyer".
A lawyer to represent you in small claims court? First of all, many states exclude lawyers in small claims court. Second, good luck getting a lawyer who will represent you in small claims court if he can. A contingency fee ain't going to amount to much, given the limits on small claims in many jurisdictions, and not many lawyers are going to lose money helping you "be a dick about it". If you have deep enough pockets to pay the going rate - which I doubt - then you probably can find a lawyer who will take your money to fool around in small claims, assuming he's allowed there in the first place.
Furthermore, in many jurisdictions, small claims tends to avoid dealing with anything other than real damages - in other words, good luck on getting a judgement with punitive damages for your hurt feelings or whatever in small claims.
In this day and age with the PATRIOT Act and all the other security oriented legislation, zones, etc, presuming you have a right to be taking pictures can be very risky business indeed. The prudent thing is to comply with police instructions at the moment and then pick better ground to fight on. Stay out of jail, out of handcuffs, and then start the business of laying formal complaints and whatnot AFTER you're home and free, without any charges pending. If you choose to go head to head with police, on the spot, you're going to lose just about every single time..
Having said all of the above, there's no doubt that our personal rights and freedoms have been under attack in England, the US, and Canada for several decades now - dating back to long before 9/11. We have given up what we have lost so far in exchange for vague promises of security, and of course in the end we will have neither our privacy nor security.