Melissa Ross
Saying “Security is the creed of the tyrant,” former Duval County Circuit Judge John Merrett joined the chorus of callers into WJCT’s First Coast Connect Thursday to chime in on the current flap over PINAC activists suing for the right to take photos and record video outside the Duval County Courthouse.
“It’s nobody’s business to stop people from viewing public employees going about their public business,” Merrett said during the impromptu call. “It’s legal to tape the inside of a courtroom while a murder trial is going on. Surely when a judge drives his vehicle into an open bay, his vehicle can be photographed or videotaped. We’re not secret agents, we’re agents of the public. It is an outrage to keep the people away from the public facility that is a courthouse.”
Merrett was ousted in 2012 by current Circuit Judge Suzanne Bass.
Activists affiliated with PINAC, or Photography Is Not a Crime, have filed a federal lawsuit after Chief Judge Mark Mahon issued an administrative order banning photography and videotaping outside the Duval County Courthouse. After public outcry, Mahon rescinded the portion of the order that banned “demonstrations or dissemination of materials on the courthouse grounds that degrade or call into question the integrity of the court or any of its judges.” But he kept the photo/video ban in place, leading to criticisms such as this Volokh Conspiracy blog in The Washington Post.
Mahon hasn’t commented publicly, but the administrative order is ostensibly prompted by security concerns regarding courthouse personnel.
“I know Judge Mahon and I am sure he is motivated by genuine concern for the welfare of the people who work at the courthouse,” Merrett said, “but the fact is if you are going to take the king’s shilling and work for the government, you are taking risks and you have to accept it.”
He added, “I am available to help in any way that I can with this lawsuit. If these orders are as they have been depicted, they are dead wrong, unconstitutional, and they conflict with everything that people have fought and died for in this country.”
“It’s shocking. It’s political censorship, and that’s the principle tool Fidel Castro used to keep his revolution alive down in Cuba,” said Jacksonville attorney Andrew Bonderud, who is representing the activists.
Bonderud said he’ll file an amended complaint, in response to Mahon’s alteration of the initial order, and a renewed motion for injunctive relief.
Added PINAC activist Tom Covenant, “We can videotape the president of the United States, and yet here we are with basically a county judge saying we can’t videotape them on a public street or sidewalk.”
