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Carla Gericke
Arrested for filming a traffic stop — with a camera that recorded nothing.
What happened
Late at night on March 24, 2010, in Weare, New Hampshire, Carla Gericke — then president of the Free State Project — parked nearby and openly filmed Sgt. Joseph Kelley conducting a traffic stop of her friend, announcing that she was recording.
Officers demanded her camera and ID and arrested her. She was charged with disobeying a police officer, obstructing government administration, and felony illegal wiretapping. Prosecutors dropped the charges; she was never tried.
One fact the police did not know at the time: her camera had malfunctioned and recorded nothing. She was arrested for attempting to film.
The lawsuit
In Gericke v. Begin (1st Cir. 2014), her § 1983 retaliatory-arrest suit argued she was exercising a clearly established First Amendment right to film a traffic stop. The First Circuit agreed on the wiretapping-based claim, denied qualified immunity, and allowed the suit to proceed.
The outcome
Within about a week of the appellate ruling, the Town of Weare settled in June 2014 for $57,500, without admitting wrongdoing.
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