in a thread discussing a local law imposing a requirement to purchase a license prior to allowing photography
Laguna Beach Requires a $100+ Permit for ANY Kind of Photo Shoot in Public - PentaxForums.com
the issue of the First Amendment rights of photographers came up
based on some brief research and citing a 2012 article, it would appear that there is no First Amendment right to take photographs for a specific purpose: : private recreational photography that is for one’s own personal use. . . .
____________________________
No Supreme Court decisions directly address a photographer’s First Amendment rights. The rulings closest to that issue involve expressive speech and conduct.
“The First Amendment literally forbids the abridgment only of ‘speech,’ but we have long recognized that its protection does not end at the spoken or written word … we have acknowledged that conduct may be ‘sufficiently imbued with elements of communication to fall within the scope of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.’
“In deciding whether particular conduct possesses sufficient communicative elements to bring the First Amendment into play, we have asked whether [a]n intent to convey a particularized message was present, and [whether] the likelihood was great that the message would be understood by those who viewed it.” Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Six years later, the Supreme Court reiterated, “To achieve First Amendment protection, a plaintiff must show that he possessed: (1) a message to be communicated; and (2) an audience to receive that message, regardless of the medium in which the message is to be expressed.” Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Group (1995)
So speech or conduct (taking photographs) that satisfies both of the elements above is allowed and protected in the “public forum.” Using this guide, we can look to the courts and find one type of photography that is not protected by the First Amendment: private recreational photography that is for one’s own personal use. . . .
Thus, the lower courts [ the federal district courts as opposed to any federal appellate court ] have found that non-communicative recreational photography is not protected by the First Amendment. What, then, is the level of protection given to “communicative” photography?
Photography & the First Amendment | First Amendment Center ? news, commentary, analysis on free speech, press, religion, assembly, petition
[ the above research is not meant to be thorough, it took seconds, and is definitely not to be taken as legal advice, consult an attorney directly if that is what you are seeking, don't try to find it on the web ]
_____________________
any thoughts or comments