05-01-2008, 07:18 PM
source (with video):
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/p...8739.story
Peter Ballance has long suffered neurological problems, including Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and speech and memory disorders.
To help him recall conversations, work on his stuttering and put social interactions in perspective, the 63-year-old Greenacres resident does something unconventional. He tape-records his conversations so he can play them back later.
"Recording is his way of refreshing his recollection and trying to sort things out," said civil rights attorney Jim Green, who represents Ballance.
Doing so is at the crux of a lawsuit filed Wednesday by Ballance against the City of Greenacres alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution and battery by Greenacres police. He also seeks a declaratory judgment that could affect all Floridians with disabilities.
Ballance says city employees, both police and code enforcement inspectors, have refused to speak to him when he uses his audio recorder. He also says the city has refused him police protection because of it, citing a 2006 incident in which someone was driving around his neighborhood threatening children. Police who responded spoke to other neighbors but refused to speak to Ballance, the suit states.
Greenacres police spokesman, Capt. Michael Porath, said he was unaware of the lawsuit. The department doesn't have an official policy on audio recording, he said. "It would depend on each incident. Each officer would have to make their own determination in each situation," said Porath.
In 2005, Greenacres police began issuing a parking ticket to Ballance for parking his Honda Accord in a grassy area across the street from his home, something he said he and his neighbors had done for years. He did so, he said, because he needed to get the car out of the driveway while he changed the oil on his Ford station wagon.
About a month before the incident no-parking signs were erected. One of the officers, who recognized Ballance from a previous interaction days earlier, instructed Ballance to turn off his recording device. He refused and an altercation ensued in which the officers tackled Ballance to the ground and handcuffed him, drawing blood on his wrists. The encounter was recorded on video by Ballance's teenage son.
Last year, a jury acquitted Ballance of resisting arrest without violence.
Ballance claims that the City of Greenacres has repeatedly denied services to him because of his disability and has refused to grant him a reasonable accommodation, thereby violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ballance and Green say Ballance's disability requires the use of "assistive technology"—the recording device.
Ballance, who serves on two local boards for people with disabilities, wears a tiny paper clipped to his chest alerting people that he audio records his conversations because of his disability.
"I'm not trying to entrap the police. I'm trying to have an accommodation for my disability," Ballance said. "I've always been very open and honest about it."
"Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, state and local governments are required by federal law to make reasonable accommodations so people have equal access," Green said. "State law says you can't orally record someone who has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Public officials performing official duties in public places don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy."
Ballance wants people to know his recordings are his way of working on his social skills by helping him remember conversations and improve his stuttering problem.
"This audio recording is not about you. It's about me listening to me," he said.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/p...8739.story
Peter Ballance has long suffered neurological problems, including Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and speech and memory disorders.
To help him recall conversations, work on his stuttering and put social interactions in perspective, the 63-year-old Greenacres resident does something unconventional. He tape-records his conversations so he can play them back later.
"Recording is his way of refreshing his recollection and trying to sort things out," said civil rights attorney Jim Green, who represents Ballance.
Doing so is at the crux of a lawsuit filed Wednesday by Ballance against the City of Greenacres alleging false arrest, malicious prosecution and battery by Greenacres police. He also seeks a declaratory judgment that could affect all Floridians with disabilities.
Ballance says city employees, both police and code enforcement inspectors, have refused to speak to him when he uses his audio recorder. He also says the city has refused him police protection because of it, citing a 2006 incident in which someone was driving around his neighborhood threatening children. Police who responded spoke to other neighbors but refused to speak to Ballance, the suit states.
Greenacres police spokesman, Capt. Michael Porath, said he was unaware of the lawsuit. The department doesn't have an official policy on audio recording, he said. "It would depend on each incident. Each officer would have to make their own determination in each situation," said Porath.
In 2005, Greenacres police began issuing a parking ticket to Ballance for parking his Honda Accord in a grassy area across the street from his home, something he said he and his neighbors had done for years. He did so, he said, because he needed to get the car out of the driveway while he changed the oil on his Ford station wagon.
About a month before the incident no-parking signs were erected. One of the officers, who recognized Ballance from a previous interaction days earlier, instructed Ballance to turn off his recording device. He refused and an altercation ensued in which the officers tackled Ballance to the ground and handcuffed him, drawing blood on his wrists. The encounter was recorded on video by Ballance's teenage son.
Last year, a jury acquitted Ballance of resisting arrest without violence.
Ballance claims that the City of Greenacres has repeatedly denied services to him because of his disability and has refused to grant him a reasonable accommodation, thereby violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ballance and Green say Ballance's disability requires the use of "assistive technology"—the recording device.
Ballance, who serves on two local boards for people with disabilities, wears a tiny paper clipped to his chest alerting people that he audio records his conversations because of his disability.
"I'm not trying to entrap the police. I'm trying to have an accommodation for my disability," Ballance said. "I've always been very open and honest about it."
"Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, state and local governments are required by federal law to make reasonable accommodations so people have equal access," Green said. "State law says you can't orally record someone who has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Public officials performing official duties in public places don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy."
Ballance wants people to know his recordings are his way of working on his social skills by helping him remember conversations and improve his stuttering problem.
"This audio recording is not about you. It's about me listening to me," he said.
