She's Serious About That Hearing

Photographers who've suffered harassment at DC's Union Station were encouraged last week when Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) expressed a desire to hold hearings on this subject.

Well, she's sticking to it.

In response to constituents who write to her regarding harassment of photographers at Union Station, Norton is sending letters which include the following:  

"As a result of these incidences, I am planning to hold hearings in the near future to support any efforts to protect the civil liberties of citizens and to ensure that no one is forbidden from taking photos of the beautiful and historic Union Station."

As I told FOX5, security seems to be lightening up on photographers, but the question that remains for us is: will this last?

Message to LaSalle (managers of Union Station) et al:  learn to love our cameras, or face the ones in a congressional hearing room.  Hmm, maybe a "field hearing" at Union Station?  Or a congressional "fact finding" walk, as part of this process?  Hope security guards would recognize Norton.  Unlike the Amtrak spokesman, who was quite polite as security interrupted and shut down his own interview (wherein he was trying to explain that photography was permitted), I suspect the Gentlelady from the District of Columbia wouldn't be so...gentle.

In all seriousness, Congresswoman Norton's continued interest in this matter will help ensure that Union Station remains a hassle-free zone for photographers.

They're Messing with the Wrong Congresswoman

As a longtime inside-the-beltway type, it's sometimes easy for me to forget that not everyone lives by their little guidebooks to Congress, or has a general knowledge of things like committee assignments or prominent legislative sponsorships.  If you live baseball, you know your teams and positions.  If you live politics, you know committees and whatnot.

In the event anyone, say, managing Union Station has forgotten, or in the event any personnel at any facility like Union Station nationwide is not aware of the particular congressional lion they have awakened regarding the rights of citizens in these facilities...I give you...Congresswoman Norton's committee assignments:

Homeland Security

- Subcommittee on Transportation and Security and Infrastructure Protection

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

- Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management

Her full list of assignments is on her website.  But the ones above are potent positions from which Congresswoman Norton can help us restore our civil liberties in/around so many locations where security guards and police have harassed, assaulted, detained and even arrested photographers, based upon no sound law.

Security is vitally important.  So are civil liberties.  Congresswoman Norton understands this.

Union Station Photo Flap Grows Into Congressional Issue

A LOT has happened since FOX5 interviewed me for their story on harassment of photographers at DC's Union Station.

This has now quickly grown into a serious congressional issue.  Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) reacted angrily today to the suggestion put forward by Union Station's management that the space is "private property."

"I'm astounded that Union Station would be declared private property, when we [Congress] issued the lease," Norton said today, after she was provided with a list of policies written by Jones Lang LaSalle, the company which manages Union Station.  LaSalle's policies--provided by the management company to FOX5, which then showed them to Norton--began by declaring Union Station as "private property."

"The Congress of the United States didn't realize it was selling Union Station, and it is not," Norton said.  Norton's full statement to FOX5 can be viewed here.

"We're going to have hearings," Norton warned, "because it's going to be us, the Congress, or it's going to be the courts.  Somebody is going to sue, straight out, and I can tell you that the Supreme Court precedents are as clear as water on this."

As one of the photographers that kicked off this entire discussion, I say this: after seven long years of having fears used as an excuse to shred the Constitution, we have found our Joan of Arc, we have found our champion, and her name is Eleanor Holmes Norton.

As a former congressional aide and DC civic activist, I've known and watched Congresswoman Norton for years.  I can tell you, if anyone's going to mess with civil liberties in any manner whatsoever, or claim ownership over property which the people of America and the District of Columbia in particular hold dear, Eleanor Holmes Norton will not let them pass.  Her intellect is powerful, and it is wrapped in tenacity and passion.  

I'll be talking with the Congresswoman's office tomorrow.  In the meantime, please thank and encourage her, right now, by clicking here.  NOTE:  Congresswoman Norton's contact page is for District residents only.  If you live outside DC, please express your appreciation by contacting her at:

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton

2136 Rayburn House Office Bldg.

Washington, DC 20515

Or, call (202) 225-8050

Let's show Congresswoman Norton that she has tapped into a powerful nationwide constituency on this important issue.

Photo Nation, let your voices rise.