PORTLAND, Maine - The ACLU of Maine and attorneys for Portland Police Officer Benjamin Noyes have settled a lawsuit brought on behalf of a Bar Harbor couple arrested for using a cell phone to record a police encounter last year.
As part of the settlement, the couple will receive an undisclosed financial sum, and Portland police will be trained to avoid similar incidents. Zach Heiden is the ACLU's legal director.
"This was a case about two people who were observing and videotaping the police doing their job in public," says Zach Heiden, the ACLU's legal director. "That's a right that's protected under the First Amendment and it's an important check on the police potential for abuse of power."
Jill Walker and Sabatino Scattoloni were visiting Portland last May when they observed five police officers put a female motorist through a battery of tests during a traffic stop.
They were charged with "Obstructing Government Administration," searched and interrogated without Miranda warnings and held at the Cumberland County Jail until they could meet bail. Ultimately, the district attorney dropped charges against them.
"We decided to bring this case in order to help make clear that you have the right to observe and record the police as long as you aren't interfering with their work," said Walker. "We hope that nobody else will have to go through what we went through."
The lawsuit charged that the actions of Officer Noyes violated the couple's First Amendment right to peacefully observe and record the police doing their job in public, as well as their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unlawful arrest.
The city of Portland issued a written statement on the settlement, saying that while the decision to arrest the plaintiffs was not the result of their videotaping at the scene, videotaping scenarios will be used as part of the police training sessions.
