“Please stop taking our photo”, says.. ACLU?

That was one of the funniest/stranger encounter ever. I was in downtown Pittsfield (MA) and I see two ACLU members asking passerby to sign a petition. I take my camera and snap some photos. The lady in the back walks to me and ask that I stop taking picture.

I tell her that I am in a public place and I can do whatever I want, but then she tells me with a straight face that in Massachusetts, a law prohibit you to take a photo without first having a consent. I don’t know if she really believed that or if she was lying to me, but either way it was really weird coming from a member of the The American Civil Liberties Union:

a nonpartisan non-profit organization whose stated mission is « to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.” (Wikipedia)

Maybe this young lady should have read the ACLU website: “When in public spaces where you are lawfully present you have the right to photograph anything that is in plain view.”