Regional Task Force to Curb Paparazzi May Have Its Own Celebrity Issues

• There Were More Officials, Staff and Press than Public Participants at Meeting Held in Malibu

BY ANNE SOBLE

The Los Angeles Regional Paparazzi Task Force met in Malibu last week to once again vocally deplore perceived indignities suffered by celebrities and their offspring at the hands of errant paparazzi.
For most of the sparsely attended two-hour session, the 14 task force members headed by Los Angeles City Councilmember Dennis Zine, their staff, other government agency representatives, and members of the media outnumbered the public.
Not only did no celebrities attend the meeting, as some of the TV crews standing in the back not-so-quietly lamented, there was only one paparazzo, and she pointed out that celebrities and the paparazzi often work in concert, something that has not always registered with members of the task force who portray celebrities as fearing for their safety in a barrage of blinding flashes.
After task force member reports that tended to be heavy on how-glad-we-are-to-be-in-Malibu comments, the group’s attention turned to addressing problems related to paparazzi taking photos of celebrities and their children on school grounds.
The task force heard from three speakers on the school issue, all of whom expressed concerns about aggressive paparazzi behavior at or near the Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School campus.
Kelly Chapman Meyer, a former PTA president at Point Dume, read a letter from school principal Chi Kim in which she stated, “The presence of paparazzi creates anxiety in our students and creates an unsafe situation.”
Meyer was accompanied by a physical education teacher at PDMSE, Evan Moore, who said he frequently sees paparazzi loitering around the school’s perimeter, which is bounded by open chain-link fencing.
A Point Dume resident added his concern that his young child was distressed by paparazzi activity he witnesses at school.
No other local schools, despite numerous children of entertainment, sports and business heavyweights at their campuses, sent representatives to the meeting.
Commander Carl Deeley of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department urged staff at PDMSE to photograph inappropriate behavior for potential use in law enforcement.
Speaking to the Malibu Surfside News after the meeting, Deeley said the fact that the Point Dume campus is surrounded by public sidewalk might necessitate privacy measures that could be beneficial to all students and help to shield outdoor events that are attended by celebrity parents.
Webster Elementary School’s use of green privacy screening around the areas of its campus open to public view is credited by school principal Phil Cott with reducing paparazzi issues at that campus, which has its share of “who’s who” offspring.
The lone paparazzo to speak at the meeting was Shaene Fanton of the Media Circuit, who bills herself as “your source to celebrity lifestyles.” Fanton criticized some of her competition, but opposes restrictions on them. She favors credentialing them, which law enforcement agencies have been reluctant to do.
The task force, which has no legislative power, concluded with a presentation by Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich that emphasized the need to enforce appropriate laws “to fullest extent possible”; and, where there are “legal shortfalls,” to try to fill them.
The group also introduced its “Citizen’s Guide” to laws related to illegal behavior that might be encountered with paparazzi (or other citizens)—a one-page flyer that is reprinted on page 13.
Malibuites encountering illegal paparazzi behavior are also urged to call the local sheriff’s department at 310-456-6652.
In addition, all interested parties are actively encouraged to consider “whether it is appropriate to establish safety zones around schools when children are arriving, departing and playing outside in playgrounds adjacent to public sidewalks.”
They are also asked “whether licensing provisions should be adopted to include commercial photographers, and/or whether taxes would be appropriate.”
In addition to the legal guide, Conley Ulich proposed consideration of “creating and using a universal symbol, which could communicate when targets are being harassed and/or verbally abused by photographers.” She suggested the American Sign Language symbol for love.
She also suggested the community “consider creating a website or other communication tool that would publish [photos or videos of] paparazzi behaving badly.”
Coney Ulich attributed the concept of what would probably quickly be dubbed “Paps Gone Wild” to a blog posting by Peter Scheer, the executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition.
However, the mayor made no reference to CFAC’s strong commitment to First Amendment protections, not only for journalists, but also for all citizens, including the paparazzi.
Commenting on the protections issue in an email to the Malibu Surfside News, Scheer wrote, “Paparazzi have the same First Amendment rights as Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich and all Malibu residents. And, so far as the First Amendment is concerned, their rights of free speech and free expression are no different than the rights of journalists.”
Scheer said, “The history of the First Amendment is rich with examples of protecting the free speech rights of jerks, bigots, psychotics, purveyors of hate speech and other people you would never want to sit next to on a bus.”
He added, “Paparazzi are in good company. As a society we protect these people’s rantings not because all speech is equally valid—it’s not—but to be extra sure we do not mistakenly censor someone who has something valuable to say.”
Scheer said because paparazzi presumably are subject to reasonable regulation of their conduct under laws of general applicability—for example, civil or criminal assault statutes—“I’ve never understood why politicians think these [laws] are not sufficient.”
In his blog article, Scheer had noted that the desire for publicity may be a factor in the convening of groups, such as this task force, to beat the drums against the paparazzi.
Scheer added that he “suggested turning the cameras back on the paparazzi because I think shaming them may be more effective than legal sanctions, and because I generally favor outcomes that are based on more speech rather than less.”
Scheer’s strong views on First Amendment protections are in accord with statements by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Southern California American Civil Liberties Union related to the issue of curbs on the paparazzi.
Barry McDonald, an associate professor of law at Pepperdine who has been informally advising the task force at Conley Ulich’s request, agrees with these groups’ First Amendment protection assessments in general, but told the panel he sees some legal leeway for regulating paparazzi behavior, especially on school campuses.
McDonald and several law school colleagues compiled a pair of binders of research and prototype ordinances that they think might withstand court challenge.
SKIRMISH SUPPORT
A rally advertised on the Internet and the Malibu Creek Plaza sign in support of two Malibu men facing misdemeanor battery charges for alleged involvement in a melee with paparazzi at Little Dume Beach in June didn’t materialize.
Skylar Peak and John Hildebrand attended the task force meeting with a small group of supporters wearing white T-shirts that said, “I Support John and Skylar for a Better Malibu.”