Artists' suit against Snohomish police moved

A civil-rights lawsuit alleging Snohomish city police illegally detained an artist for photographing power lines has been moved to U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of University of Washington associate art professor Shirley Scheier by the American Civil Liberties Union and alleges the artist was illegally handcuffed and held by three police officers in 2005 while they searched her car and insisted on seeing the photographs she took. The incident traumatized her, the lawsuit alleges, and she has "become reluctant to engage in photography and her art, for fear of suffering the same fate again."

Scheier has taught at the UW since 1986 and, according to the lawsuit, her work "explores the relationship between humans and their environment, especially in the context of industrialization."

On Oct. 17, 2005, Scheier drove to Snohomish, where she snapped about 17 photographs of power lines near the Snohomish Substation of the Bonneville Power Administration, according to the lawsuit. On her way home, the lawsuit alleges, she was stopped by three police officers who questioned her "vigorously" about why she was taking the photos

Scheier said she was ordered from her car, handcuffed and treated "roughly" by the officers, who searched her car. She was released after about an hour.

Scheier complained to Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who inquired about the incident, according to the lawsuit. The city responded, telling Cantwell in a letter that the officers' actions were reasonable and that the "suspicious facts ... clearly justified the brief detention and actions taken."

The city of Seattle recently settled another ACLU lawsuit by paying a photographer $8,000 after he was arrested for photographing two officers questioning and arresting a man on a downtown sidewalk last year.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com