Court Costs: Sharpe v WPD (1A Test Case)
Donation protected
On 9 October 2018 in Winterville NC, Dijon Sharpe was a passenger in a car that was pulled over for an alleged driving infraction by two officers with the Winterville Police Department .
Dijon took out his mobile phone and began recording the interaction with the police, broadcasting it on Facebook Live, to ensure the safety of himself and the driver. You can view a Twitter thread with a link to the full video here: https://twitter.com/greg_doucette/status/1049762075369705475
During the traffic stop, one officer attempts to grab the phone from Dijon's hand [11:41] while another officer falsely claims that using Facebook Live is illegal [12:13].
The right to record police during the performance of their duties has been considered by the federal Circuit Courts of Appeals in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th Circuits. Every single one has found that recording police is a lawful activity protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, so long as the recording does not interfere with the officer. As a passenger who was not suspected of any wrongdoing, Dijon's passive recording of the police was not interfering and should be protected as well.
But the circuit North Carolina is in – the 4th Circuit – has not officially weighed in on the right to record yet.
My law firm will be representing Dijon for free to bring a test case against the Winterville Police Department, first seeking a declaratory judgment in US District Court, and then on appeal to establish a right to record in the 4th Circuit.
The purpose of this GoFundMe is to raise money for the court costs that will be required for this case. We don't yet know what all of those costs will include, but we know for sure there will be a $400 filing fee for District Court, an unknown amount to have a certified transcriptionist transcribe the full 15:19-long video, and a $505 filing for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals when we reach that stage.
All funds donated will be held in a State Bar-approved IOLTA trust account with our firm, exclusively for the litigation costs in this case. If any funds are remaining after the case is done, the leftovers will be donated to ProPublica to support their work exposing police misconduct.
Dijon took out his mobile phone and began recording the interaction with the police, broadcasting it on Facebook Live, to ensure the safety of himself and the driver. You can view a Twitter thread with a link to the full video here: https://twitter.com/greg_doucette/status/1049762075369705475
During the traffic stop, one officer attempts to grab the phone from Dijon's hand [11:41] while another officer falsely claims that using Facebook Live is illegal [12:13].
The right to record police during the performance of their duties has been considered by the federal Circuit Courts of Appeals in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th Circuits. Every single one has found that recording police is a lawful activity protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, so long as the recording does not interfere with the officer. As a passenger who was not suspected of any wrongdoing, Dijon's passive recording of the police was not interfering and should be protected as well.
But the circuit North Carolina is in – the 4th Circuit – has not officially weighed in on the right to record yet.
My law firm will be representing Dijon for free to bring a test case against the Winterville Police Department, first seeking a declaratory judgment in US District Court, and then on appeal to establish a right to record in the 4th Circuit.
The purpose of this GoFundMe is to raise money for the court costs that will be required for this case. We don't yet know what all of those costs will include, but we know for sure there will be a $400 filing fee for District Court, an unknown amount to have a certified transcriptionist transcribe the full 15:19-long video, and a $505 filing for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals when we reach that stage.
All funds donated will be held in a State Bar-approved IOLTA trust account with our firm, exclusively for the litigation costs in this case. If any funds are remaining after the case is done, the leftovers will be donated to ProPublica to support their work exposing police misconduct.
Organizer
T Greg Doucette
Organizer
Durham, NC