Watch 2 Denver cops tell a journalist to 'act like a lady' as they arrest her for trying to take their pictures


The Denver Police Department released body-camera footage Tuesday of a July 5 incident between two police officers and the editor of The Colorado Independent. In the video, Officers James Brooks and Adam Paulsen tell the editor, Susan Greene, that she can't photograph a naked, handcuffed black man on the sidewalk, and when she takes out her smartphone to photograph one officer's badge, Paulsen tells Greene, "Stand up straight, let's act like a lady." "Stand up and act like a lady," Brooks adds. Greene asked the officers if they are "f--king kidding me — 'act like a lady'?" And Brooks replies: “There you go, now you can go to jail."
Greene did not go to jail — the officers released her after 12 minutes in a police cruiser. But it appears the cops were in the wrong.
They argued that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) superseded Greene's First Amendment right to photograph the police in action. In July 10 and Aug. 16 internal bulletins, the Denver Police Department reminded officers that the First Amendment gives private individuals the right to record police activity as long as they are legally in a public place, aren't endangering themselves or others, and don't "materially interfere" with the police conduct — and police can't "threaten, intimidate, or otherwise discourage from recording," or "detain or arrest the individual."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mari Newman, a lawyer for Greene and the Independent, called the HIPAA excuse "ridiculous," explaining that HIPAA is "designed to protect private medical information" and "does not impose any obligations on a private individual walking around on the street." The Denver district attorney declined to press charges against Paulsen and Brooks, and the Denver Police Department says it has an ongoing internal affairs investigation. Greene says she'll sue the city if it doesn't hold the officers accountable, asking: "How exactly should a lady act when being wrongly detained on a public sidewalk for exercising First Amendment rights?"
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Jared and Ivanka's Albanian island
Under The Radar The deal to develop Sazan has been met with widespread opposition
-
Storm warning
Feature The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season. Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?
-
U.S. v. Skrmetti: Did the trans rights movement overreach?
Feature The Supreme Court upholds a Tennessee law that bans transgender care for minors, dealing a blow to trans rights
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California