Admittedly goth Jennifer Fastwolf, above, was chilling on her transit ride, when someone snapped a picture of her.

Clandestine photo upsets CTA rider
Request to remove image from Web site met with resistance

Fastwolf said she had no idea the picture had been taken — until a friend told her a photo of her was featured on a Web site called People of Public Transit.

The site, run by 28-year-old John Kubera of Pittsburgh, encourages people to send in pictures of fellow riders on public trains and buses. On the site, Kubera writes that he started People of Public Transit because "people watching is fun and the public bus and subway systems are littered with amazing photo opportunities."

The Web site is replete with pictures from around the world of people throwing up on trains, commuters with Mohawks, riders wearing unconventional clothing and other bizarre scenes. The comments posted below each photo run the gamut from innocuous to snarky to downright mean.

A recent picture of an obese woman sleeping had one comment: "OMG … it's 'The Bulk.'" Another, showing a pair of Hasidic Jews on a train, included a joke apparently referencing concentration camps during the Holocaust.

Despite numerous requests, Kubera has essentially refused to remove the picture. He probably loves the free publicity he is getting from this story. There are tons of sites like this, such as Poorly Dressed and People of Wal-Mart, and I've laughed at them along with LOLCats. But I ride public transit myself, so now I'll have to be sure not to throw up on the train. Or do anything else unusual, I guess.

Fastwolf's plight reminded me that a fairly significant local case was decided yesterday. Earlier this year Anthony Graber was testing out his new helmet cam by motorcycling like an idiot on I-95 near Baltimore. At some point a car forced Graber to stop and a fellow advanced towards him with gun drawn, but no obvious badge or uniform. Fortunately the advancer turned out to be a plainclothes state trooper, J.D. Uhler, and fortunately Graber didn't pull a weapon in self-defense. The whole incident was caught on the helmet-cam, and Graber posted it on youtube, where it was a sensation among those who feel the cops occasionally act like idiots, too.

MD state troopers saw the video and like idiots, raided the fellow's house, seized his equipment and charged him under Maryland's strict illegal wiretapping law. That same law, you may recall was mentioned in the case of one Linda Tripp recording one Monica Lewinsky, but not invoked. It shouldn't have been invoked in this case, either. There have been a lot of local cases of police reacting badly to being photographed, but the trend has been to accept that they operate in public:

Judge says man within rights to record police traffic stop

In a decision that could make it easier for citizens to record police officers in Maryland, a Harford County judge ruled Monday that state police and prosecutors were wrong to arrest and charge a man for taping his own traffic stop and posting it on the Internet.

Circuit Court Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr.'s ruling helps clarify the state's wire tap law and makes it clear that police officers enjoy little expectation of privacy as they perform their duties.

"Those of us who are public officials and are entrusted with the power of the state are ultimately accountable to the

public," Plitt wrote. "When we exercise that power in a public forum, we should not expect our activity to be shielded from public scrutiny."

...

Harford County State's Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly said the ruling "will make it more difficult for the police to do their jobs" and warned that people armed with cameras might soon point their lenses at car accident scenes "and eavesdrop as police take medical history" from patients.

I have to admit to a certain contradictory attitude. I probably wouldn't want to be the one photographed on the train, or in a clumsy move on a jobsite, but I love it when other people get caught. I just love it a lot less when confronted by their hurt feelings. I suppose it is like gossip. Few people admit to liking gossip, or repeating it, but at the same time everyone wants to know what's going on.