Ohio newspaper gets $18,000 from government for deleted photos

TOLEDO, Ohio (Tribune News Service) In what was seen as a victory for First Amendment rights, the U.S. government agreed Thursday to pay The Blade $18,000 for seizing the cameras of a photographer and deleting photographs taken outside the Lima tank plant last year.

In turn, The Blade agreed to dismiss the lawsuit it filed April 4 in U.S. District Court on behalf of photographer Jetta Fraser and reporter Tyrel Linkhorn against Charles T. Hagel, then the U.S. Secretary of Defense; Lt. Col. Matthew Hodge, commandant of the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, and the military police officers involved in the March 28, 2014, incident.

Fritz Byers, attorney for The Blade, said the settlement was made under the First Amendment Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits the government, in connection with the investigation of a criminal offense, from searching or seizing any work product materials possessed by a journalist.

The harassment and detention of The Blades reporter and photographer, the confiscation of their equipment, and the brazen destruction of lawful photographs cannot be justified by a claim of military authority or by the supposed imperatives of the national security state, Mr. Byers said.

The Blade is pleased with this resolution of the crucial First Amendment issues at stake in this matter, Mr. Byers said.

John Robinson Block, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Blade, said he was "very happy it's resolved," but wished the government would admit wrongdoing.

"We appear to know more about the U.S. Constitution than responsible federal defense officials. I wish they could admit in this instance, in any instance, that they were wrong and violated our rights."

Blade officials said $5,000 of the settlement would be donated to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Based in Arlington, Va., the committee works to protect journalists free speech rights as well as access to public records, meetings, and courtrooms.

The remainder of the settlement will be shared by the Blade staff members detained, and will not be used to pay the newspapers legal fees.

The First Amendment Privacy Protection Act allows those who sue under it to recover a minimum of $1,000 per violation or actual monetary losses.

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Ohio newspaper gets $18,000 from government for deleted photos