Mail away

I am on my way out to post two letters by certified mail, one to U.S. Marshal David Gonzales:

Marshal Gonzales:

My name is Douglas Hester, and I am a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona. On Monday, April 6, 2009 I was unlawfully detained and threatened with arrest by security personnel at the O’Connor Federal Building while engaged in lawful activities on a public sidewalk adjacent to the structure.

I filed a formal complaint with L/CSO Juan Prieve on Thursday, April 9, requesting that Officer Prieve review the circumstances of my harassment, and to apply any corrective measures/retraining that he felt was warranted.

On Thursday, May 7, I contacted Officer Prieve by telephone to obtain a status report on my complaint. He informed me that the matter was no longer under his purview and that I would have to contact Deputy Marshal Jennifer Harkins in order to obtain updated information regarding my complaint.

I have left several telephone messages for Deputy Harkins from Friday, May 8 through Wednesday, May 13 without them being returned, despite being told by Officer Prieve as well as the woman who answers the general phone number at the Marshal’s office that Ms. Harkins is indeed in the office and working. This is unacceptable rudeness from a public service employee and shows a lack of professionalism on the part of Deputy Harkins, in my opinion.

I am writing to respectfully ask that you direct Deputy Harkins to return my calls, as well as provide me with a formal update on the status of my complaint.

Thank you very much for your assistance in this matter.

and one to U.S. Attorney Diane J. Humetewa:

Dear Ms. Humetewa:

My name is Douglas Hester, and I am a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona. On Monday, April 6, 2009 I was unlawfully detained and threatened with arrest by court security personnel at the O’Connor Federal Building while engaged in lawful activities on a public sidewalk adjacent to the structure, specifically taking photographs and videos of the building and surroundings. More information as well as video of the incident can be found here:

http://northernmuckraker.blogspot.com/2009/04/rousted-by-federal-court-security.html

I filed a formal complaint about my treatment that day with L/CSO Juan Prieve, the head of security at the O’Connor Federal Building, on Thursday, April 9, but have yet to receive any information regarding the completion or outcome of any investigation related to what happened to me, despite numerous recent attempts to follow up with Deputy Marshal Jennifer Harkins by telephone. Please find attached my letter to U.S. Marshal David Gonzales which attempts to generate some action from his employees on that subject.

I would very much appreciate it if you or your designee would communicate to the Marshals Service as well as to Federal court security personnel at the O’Connor Federal Building that photography of a public building from a public sidewalk is perfectly legal, and that attempts to wrongly deter or intimidate law-abiding people from doing so may expose them to criminal and/or civil liability.

Thank you very much for any assistance that you can provide in this matter.

It's shameful that I actually have to take this step, but welcome to today's helpful Federal government, which employs professional public "servants" such as Deputy Marshal Jennifer Harkins.