This has been sitting on my spirit for a while and since I have other things to accomplish I figured I would expel this so I can move along.
A while back I encountered a so called First Amendment Auditor at my workplace. I wrote about it prior feel free to explore but I am not tagging it this time.
I found a lot about myself in the exchange, and added to what I already knew legally.
- People like him are not showing up to protect the first amendment in my opinion. No matter how they narrate and explain their videos are designed for engagement. Engagement requires the approval of the audience. The audience of the specific auditor I encountered wants to be able to judge and ridicule and in some cases expose racist and sexist language. Without confrontation and his ability to belittle via narration his audience he doesn’t get the views. Without the views he doesn’t earn the same amount of money.
- The auditors will say law law law and rely on the employees limited knowledge to generate content.
- The auditors absolutely edit the videos even when they claim they do not.
One of the things they will say is that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy inside the buildings they harass. That is not true nor absolute. It is one thing if they are outside in say the parking lot. That is absolutely a public space and there is no reasonable expectation of privacy there. Once you walk inside the entity things get a little more murky. Most of the locations they enter are limited public forums. A limited public forum allows the agency to create rules, legally. That includes restricting the ability to film no matter how many times they say otherwise. Especially in settings where there are juveniles or an at risk population this is especially important.
The pattern of our particular auditor is to linger around until someone approaches. When the person approaches he is evasive, sarcastic and dismissive. If that does not trigger the response he needs to feed his audience, he will continue to egg on. In a recent video since he was unable to enter the building he lingered in the parking lot for hours. He always alleges he has to get his ‘shots’ yet there are only so many shots of the outside propane tank one can take no? He approached vehicles and he filmed inside the vehicle repeatedly banging his phone camera against the window hoping to get a reaction. Thankfully the parties did not engage but this is an example of the behavior.
This specific auditor in his eventual public records request will say things like he will request pay stubs and personnel records. That is not legally possible. Salary information is a public record a paystub is not. Most personnel records do not contain public records. He says things like this to elicit a reaction from the person he is engaging.
His behavior is about bullying and exerting control over the often female employees in my opinion.
The auditor will allege that the iPhone they are using to record is no different than the security cameras within the agency. That also is not true. In this case it comes down to intention and distribution. The security camera in a public agency is not designed nor intended to be displayed after editing on YouTube. The recording of the auditor absolutely is.
The auditor will try to bully the employee into writing down the request. You do not have to do that.
Specifically for California, the CPRA requires the agency to provide a method for individuals to submit a public records request. While the law does allow for a written or verbal submission it does not require you to stand there, be berated, and accept dictation. You can absolutely redirect someone like him to your records officer. If he refuses you can listen to his request and you are not required to write it down. If he thinks that you might miss something, well he is recording is he not?
I even considered creating a video series to explain your rights but at the end of the day he is not even worth THIS let alone space on the YouTube. On the one hand it might assist with getting me back in the habit but nah.