ACLU letter to USDOT. Posted by erin m.

As you have hopefully heard by now, the wonderful Artomatic is taking place at 55 M Street, SE. The event is free, though donations are welcome. The nine-floor art festival is open Wednesdays through Sundays until July 5 and includes everything from Peeps diorama finalists to body paint shows.

The Artomatic location, which will no doubt be teeming with visitors taking photographs, is conveniently close to the USDOT headquarters on M Street, a place whose security is anything but friendly to photographers. After a run-in with security there, my attempts to contact USDOT security were unsuccessful, but some enterprising photographers on Flickr have had more success with speaking to USDOT security, whose leadership seems to have a rather warped view of federal photography laws. According to erin m, who had a conversation with Lt. Butler of USDOT:

When told that DOT is unique among federal buildings in DC in systematically training its guards to harass photographers, Lt. Butler says that makes him proud. His idea is that DOT is doing it right, and everyone else is doing it wrong. … I ask if now that he’s collected my name and contact information I am free to photograph the building. He says no, because, well, it’s still illegal to photograph a federal building.

Now the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area is involved (via We Love DC). On May 27, ACLU-NCA sent a letter to the acting general counsel of the USDOT, asking him to inform ACLU-NCA of the photography policies of USDOT and to take “steps to disabuse the DOT security force of its mistaken beliefs and put an end to their harassment of the photographing public.”

In the meantime, any visitors to Artomatic or to the Thursday outdoor movie nights hosted by the Capitol Riverfront BID next to USDOT should feel free to stroll over and photograph the beautiful transportation-related art installations that surround the department’s office buildings and let us know if USDOT security are still enforcing the made-up law against photographing federal buildings.