Illinois, the state that is trying to [__send a man to prison__](http://www.pixiq.com/article/reason-magazine-hits-homerun-with-article-on-war-on-photography) for recording a cop on public property, is now trying to forbid people from taking photos of traffic accidents.
State Rep. Tom Holbrook, a democrat, believes that people with cell phone cameras are interfering with emergency personnel with the mere act of taking photos.
So he is proposing a bill that would make it illegal to use a wireless telephone within 500 feet of an accident.
Here is the [__full text__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=84&GA=97&DocTypeId=HB&DocNum=1984&GAID=11&LegID=59186&SpecSess=&Session=) of the proposed bill.
The House Transportation Committee [__approved the bill__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/article_2070bc7e-453f-11e0-a0b0-001cc4c03286.html) this week and it now heads to the House floor.
It would seem that emergency personnel should worry about the emergency on hand rather than worry about witnesses snapping photos.
Not only is it already illegal to interfere with an emergency service worker at the scene of an accident, police and EMS workers should worry about the actual emergency instead of the witnesses snapping photos.
I would say this bill in unconstitutional, but this is a state that believes police have an expectation of privacy while on public duty.
