Florida GOP legislature files bill to criminalize roadside photography of farm scenery

[seafan]

This is not the Onion.



Photographing cows or other farm scenery could land you in jail under Florida Senate bill

By Bruce Ritchie
February 23, 2011

Taking photographs from the roadside of a sunrise over hay bales near the Suwannee River, horses grazing near Ocala or sunset over citrus groves along the Indian River could land you in jail under a Senate bill filed Monday.

SB 1246 by Sen. Jim Norman, R-Tampa, would make it a first-degree felony to photograph a farm without first obtaining written permission from the owner. A farm is defined as any land "cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production, the raising and breeding of domestic animals or the storage of a commodity."

Media law experts say the ban would violate freedoms protected in the U. S. Constitution. But Wilton Simpson, a farmer who lives in Norman's district, said the bill is needed to protect the property rights of farmers and the "intellectual property" involving farm operations.

Simpson, president of Simpson Farms near Dade City, said the law would prevent people from posing as farmworkers so that they can secretly film agricultural operations.

.....

The article then states that Mr. Simpson was unable to name an instance of that happening.



Why do the Florida GOP try to pass legislation that defies the constitution?


1. Because they relish power.

2. Because they are steeped in arrogance and greed.

3. Because they are stupid.

[steve2470]

1. ok this is truly a WTF moment..... nt

[AnOhioan]

2. I will 2nd that....the mother of all wtf's

[haikugal]

4. I can't believe

that this is random...so what's this about?

[tblue37]

30. Some animal rights activists go undercover to get film of animals being

grossly abused on factory farms, and sometimes evironmentalists go undercover to get film of big agribusinesses violating EPA laws and grossly polluting streams and rivers. This bill is obviously intended to prevent such exposes.

[1monster]

31. Florida has had problems with farms that use slave labor. One such farm

was found several years ago.

But there are plenty more.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/slave-labour-that-shames-america-765881.html

Slave labour that shames America

Migrant workers chained beaten and forced into debt, exposing the human cost of producing cheap food

By Leonard Doyle in Immokalee, Florida
Wednesday, 19 December 2007

Three Florida fruit-pickers, held captive and brutalised by their employer for more than a year, finally broke free of their bonds by punching their way through the ventilator hatch of the van in which they were imprisoned. Once outside, they dashed for freedom.

When they found sanctuary one recent Sunday morning, all bore the marks of heavy beatings to the head and body. One of the pickers had a nasty, untreated knife wound on his arm. Police would learn later that another man had his hands chained behind his back every night to prevent him escaping, leaving his wrists swollen.

The migrants were not only forced to work in sub-human conditions but mistreated and forced into debt. They were locked up at night and had to pay for sub-standard food. If they took a shower with a garden hose or bucket, it cost them $5.

Their story of slavery and abuse in the fruit fields of sub-tropical Florida threatens to lift the lid on some appalling human rights abuses in America today. (snip) more at the url

Perhaps this is the reason, to protect the slavers from discovery.

[Gman]

3. Well I guess Florida is going to put Google Earth & it's street view out of business

like that's going to happen...

[csziggy]

5. Google and the EFF should smack this guy like a fly

What an idiot.

[Kievan Rus]

6. No matter how much power and wealth the robber-baron class has, it's never enough

[Pacifist Patriot]

7. How do these guys tie their own shoes?

[Tansy_Gold]

11. In the future,

they will have someone to tie their shoes for them, and that shoe-tyer will be made to feel appropriately grateful for the job.



Or at least that's what they're aiming for.....



TG

[customerserviceguy]

16. Velcro n/t

[krispos42]

21. Badly n/t

[arcane1]

8. "intellectual property" always makes me think Monsanto

There is an interesting poll on the right side of the page, too!

[Generic Brad]

9. Illegal to capture souls with a camera!?

And if this passes - are they going to sue Google Earth?

[ellenfl]

10. what's he doing on HIS farm that he doesn't want anyone to see? eom

[Kolesar]

13. Ohio has passed ridiculous laws against farm animal rights activists

Maybe this is the same

[Mojorabbit]

15. That was my first thought too. nt

[Solly Mack]

24. Exactly. How is he treating his migrant workers?

[siligut]

12. What don't they want us to see?

Maybe they know all the concern about genetically modified seed and pesticide use will be just the tip of the iceberg, if we really know what is going on. Maybe they don't want evidence gathered on the use of undocumented laborers. Maybe "farm" is just a euphemism for human breeding experiments. I don't know, but I am sure not buying the "intellectual property" crap.

[Historic NY]

14. They really kidding, WTF is wrong with people.

[lpbk2713]

17. "Them pesky libruls and their cameras"

The big farmers don't want anyone taking pictures of the undocumented migrants and their kids picking tomatoes, strawberries and citrus. It's hard enough for them to cheat the workers out of a substandard paycheck as it is already.

[FourScore]

18. What happened to getting the government out of our lives? n/t

[MisterP]

19. you mean like Monsanto's goons do, Mr. Norman? nt

[old mark]

20. K&R- Your 3 reasons are right on the money. NT

[onethatcares]

22. it boils down to the

one cow on a 300 acre "farm" that is now tax exempt because it's deemed "agricultural" in nature. Couldn't have the peons thinking our legislators were not dust of the earth type of people can we now?

yeah, floriduh is full of wtf moments. Sadly we're in the throws of a millenium of them.

[retread]

23. What is occurring on Simpson Farms that needs to hide from scrutiny??

[SpiralHawk]

25. This is more, more more Republicon OCCULTISM

The Repubs and their Industrial Ag Cronies want to go occult on their brutal treatment of human beings and animals on their corporate 'farms.'

Repubs very often employ occultism, because their actual practices cannot stand the LIGHT of truth.

[JoeyT]

26. WTF?

This doesn't even serve any real purpose.

Well, unless they're doing something that the EPA, ICE, DEA, or ASPCA might be interested in seeing photographs of.
(By which I mean something like dumping oil on the ground, undocumented workers, growing drugs, or abusing animals, respectively.)

[GeorgeGist]

27. Is he related to Homer?

[steve2470]

28. This is so fascist nt

[seafan]

29. Norman says he will fix bill that would make it illegal to take photos of farms

Norman says he will fix bill that would make it illegal to take photos of farms

02/24/11

A state senator said on Thursday that he will change his bill that would make it a first-degree felony to photograph a farm without first obtaining written permission from the owner.

Sen. Jim Norman, R-Tampa, said he never intended to write a bill that would make it a crime for someone to take photographs of a farm from a roadside or overhead from an airplane.

.....

The Tampa Republican said the intent behind SB 1246 was to protect private property rights and to go after people who go undercover and take pictures or videotape what’s happening on a farm. The bill defines a farm as any land "cultivated for the purpose of agricultural production, the raising and breeding of domestic animals or the storage of a commodity."

.....

Interesting that these people are SO CONCERNED about the possibility of "undercover" agents nosing around agricultural areas, even from public access roads. You can bet that Jim Norman (R-Tampa) was trying for roadside photo/video prohibition. Now that he figured out that it's unconstitutional, he's oh so happy to "clarify" the intent of his bill.


I pulled on a little thread in this story, and discovered some quite interesting things.



Jim Norman is.... well, we know who he is.


For those who don't, Norman was thrown off the 2010 ballot for Florida state Senate last October 15 for $435,000 worth of campaign financial disclosure violations; another Republican was nominated to take his place the next day; 4 days later, the First District Court of Appeal (Rubio's Taj Mahal judges) put Norman back on the ballot. Now he's back at the trough in Tallahassee.


Interestingly, the farmer named in the OP as Wilton Simpson, who supports Norman's clampdown on photography of farm areas, was one of the GOP contenders to replace Norman on the ballot last fall. (The GOP ended up naming Rob Wallace.)

(Wilton) Simpson and family are involved in farming, environmental protection, and construction giving him an intimate familiarity with the balance of interests in promoting a positive community. I tracked Simpson down at his million-plus chicken egg farm in Trilby.....

Link

Sounds like a rather large operation. Sure hope he's doing his best to follow all of the rules.

Here is what Mr. Simpson said a few years ago when asked about possible political aspirations:



Wilton Simpson
(Photo via Focus Magazine)


When questioned about political aspirations:

.....

SIMPSON: (Chuckles). I have expressed some desires for that.

FOCUS: Is there any particular direction of public service that you're considering?
SIMPSON: We've got some great representatives in this area. Ken Littlefield is our current state representative in this area. He only has one more term. The district is East Pasco County and slightly part of North Hillsborough County - district 61. So, if I were to have to guess, that might be a natural fit initially. I've got a lot of things I think of all the time.

It bothers me that the Republican Party has overwhelming majorities in both houses and the governor, and we can't get some simple things done that we need done in this state. We can't get education right - haven't. Pasco County is way under-funded in its building process. I'm not certain that Pasco County is being properly funded by the state, at all. If we continue to let our State Constitution be ravaged by special interests, we're going to be California in ten years. That would be a disaster, in my opinion. I'm of the belief that there are some things that we need to scream a little louder about. I generally scream very effectively. I think I could have a positive influence on some of these types of things. I know that our governor and state legislature have made some progress. They are doing some great things. I don't think they're doing it quickly enough.

FOCUS: If you were to say there were major issues that you were looking to work on in public office, what would they be?
SIMPSON: Making sure our education is properly run and funded. Keeping our State Constitution from being special-interested to death. Our growth management and water resources. Healthcare - the way we deliver it to the elderly, the poor and the uninsured. And then protecting the rights of farmers.
----Link

Mr. Simpson's above comments on the competency of Tallahassee Republicans probably marred his chances of landing the GOP replacement nomination replacing Norman... oh, well.

But, Simpson apparently had approved of his state Rep at the time, Kenneth Littlefield, now a former state Rep, who, in his quest for a County Commission seat in Pasco County in 2010, was found to have overstated the value of two residential properties he owns by ~$170,000 dollars on his campaign financial disclosure forms. Ooops.

In Littlefield's case, it showed up in the value he affixed to the two residential properties he owns. As Times staff writer Jodie Tillman reported, Littlefield overstated the worth of the two properties by nearly $170,000, according to the market values calculated by the property appraisers' offices in Pasco and Leon counties. The outstanding mortgages on the homes — his primary residence in Seven Oaks in Wesley Chapel and a condominium in Tallahassee — indicate Littlefield is underwater on both and his net worth is significantly less than the $465,000 he stated on his disclosure form.
----Link

The newspaper called him out on it, and Littlefield he wrote a cute little apology in the paper:

'I made a mistake. I was wrong'

After reading the editorial concerning my actions that affected the democratic process in Pasco, I must agree. The editorial is right in that my inattention to detail, concerning my financial report submitted to the supervisor of elections, is certainly not an attractive attribute for a county commissioner. I made a mistake. I was wrong.

I have learned a big lesson and offer my apologies for the error. I can't promise I will never make another mistake, but I will avow that when I do I will turn it into a teachable moment as I have this one.

Ken Littlefield, Wesley Chapel

What I also found very interesting about Littlefield is that his old occupation when he was state Rep was Pasco County Property Appraiser, 'Special Projects Analyst'.

So this means that the former Pasco County Property Appraiser *overestimated the value of his own property* on his campaign finance disclosure forms last year....


I'm not a legal investigator, but I hope this caught the eye of one of them.



Oh, by the way, Mr. Littlefield's brother, Carl Littlefield, also served as a Republican state Rep from 1992-1998. He went to work for Jeb Bush's administration in Tallahassee in 1999, and was later investigated for nonpayment of property taxes tied to a homestead exemption he was claiming on a Dade City residence while he was working and living in Tallahassee with a driver's license and multiple vehicles sporting his Tallahassee address.

And during the period in question, brother Ken --also a state Rep-- listed Carl's home in Dade City as his own address, but city records showed that brother Carl's name was on the water bill.



Sorry for the diversion, but with Florida Republicans in particular, you start pulling on one tiny thread, and suddenly, you are in a vast cave of corruption with many interlocking chambers.


Time to order some more pickaxes and head lamps.


And to stop on the roadsides and snap a few nice shots of Florida farm scenery. Spring is coming.