UW professor detained after photographing power lines settles lawsuit with Snohomish

A University of Washington art professor who was frisked, handcuffed and detained by City of Snohomish police after snapping photographs of power lines has settled her lawsuit with the city for $8,000, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The settlement was reached a year after a U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour found the three officers who frisked and detained 55-year-old Shirley Scheier "lacked a reasonable justification for their aggressive tactics in completely restraining Scheier's personal liberty."

Larry Bauman, city manager for the City of Snohomish, said settling the lawsuit was a business decision. He said the city stands behind the conduct of the officers involved.

"We believe our officers acted appropriately and with courtesy," said Bauman.

"The decision to settle was made by our insurance pool," Bauman said. "They determined that going to trial would have cost $30,000 and that an $8,000 settlement was a good business decision."

According to court documents, Scheier had driven to Snohomish to take photographs of power lines near a Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) substation on Oct. 17, 2005, for an academic project.

Scheier claimed in the lawsuit that officers questioned her vigorously about the photos she had taken, searched her car, handcuffed her and treated her "roughly."

Scheier, who uses photographs of public land and structures in her artwork, was on public property when she snapped the photographs and there were no signs indicating that photography was not allowed, the ACLU said.

Bauman said when officers initially attempted to stop Scheier on Highway 9 she "refused to respond to police efforts to make a traffic stop." When she did stop, Bauman said, the three responding officers saw that she had maps with big circles drawn around other power stations and facilities.

Bauman said Scheier was detained while officers ran her name through the FBI database.

In rejecting a motion for dismissal of the lawsuit by the City of Snohomish, Coughenour found that Scheier's Fourth Amendment rights to not be subject to unreasonable search and seizure had been violated.

"Generalized, unsubstantiated suspicions of terrorist activity" does not give police the right to ignore people's constitutional rights, the judge said.

In 2007, the ACLU helped obtain $8,000 in compensation from the city of Seattle for Bogdan Mohora, who was wrongfully arrested for taking pictures of police making an arrest in downtown Seattle.

In 2005, the ACLU assisted a photographer whose camera memory card was seized by King County sheriff's deputies after he took pictures of artwork in the Seattle bus tunnel. A year before, the ACLU assisted another photography student, Ian Spiers, who was questioned by law enforcement for taking pictures at the Ballard Locks.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com