WWW . THESKANNER . COM
J ULY 31, 2013
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 43
25
CENTS
For The Skanner
news alerts
Text "NEWS" to
503-715-0890 or
scan this QR code
C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
BOOGIE BLOCK
New
Laws In
Effect
Wrongful convictions,
alcohol, social
media passwords
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
By Rachel La Corte
The Associated Press
Moorpheus Magnetik entertained the crowd at Boogie Up the Block Urban Arts Festival, held July 27-28 on the streets
adjacent to Washington Hall. The event featured music, art, food, dance and lots of fun activities for children. More
photos on Page 6.
Agent Accused in Camera Grab
Man claims casual photographs caused tussle at Federal Building
By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle
privacy activist says a plain-
clothes federal agent briefly
seized his camera this week
after he took photographs from
a public sidewalk near the feder-
al building downtown, and that
he was harassed by a different
federal officer the next day.
Phil Mocek said he was walk-
ing to work Wednesday morn-
ing when he took a picture of
what appeared to be unmarked
or personal vehicles parked in a
row of spots reserved for law
enforcement outside the Henry
M. Jackson Federal Building.
Soon afterward, a white truck
that had been parked in one of
the spots drove by Mocek and
pulled a U-turn, parking
crooked in the street, he said. A
man got out and grabbed his
camera.
Mocek called 911, and two
Seattle police officers arrived
but refused to take a report. The
man who took the camera iden-
tified himself as an agent with
INDEX
News .....................2,3,6
Opinion .......................4
A&E ..........................2,5
Auto ............................6
Bids/Classifieds............7
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms. He began going
through the pictures as an offi-
cer from the Federal Protective
Service and a private security
guard who works at the federal
building watched.
The agent eventually returned
the camera, but one of the
images had been deleted,
Mocek said.
Seattle police spokeswoman
Renee Witt said it was the offi-
cers’ judgment not to take a
report, and she referred further
questions to the ATF. Seattle
ATF spokesman Bill Perkins
said the agency was aware of
the incident but had no immedi-
ate comment.
It is not against the law to take
photographs in public, or to take
photographs of federal facilities,
though some law enforcement
officials have been sensitive
about such activity since 9/11.
On Thursday, again as Mocek
was walking to work, he said he
saw the same Federal Protective
Service officer who had wit-
nessed the previous day’s inci-
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A variety of
new laws take effect Sunday in Washington
state, ranging from measures that make it
easier for certain businesses to serve alcohol
to a plan that compensates people who have
been wrongfully convicted.
Lawmakers passed more than 300 bills
this year, most of which took effect last
weekend, though a handful of others will hit
the books in September.
While the focus of the recent marathon
legislative session was on the $33.6 billion,
two-year state operating budget that was
signed into law just hours ahead of a dead-
line that would have triggered a government
shutdown, several other issues also came to
the forefront.
— WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS: A new
law allows people who were wrongfully
convicted of a crime to file a claim for dam-
ages against the state.
A successful case would have to show that
a wrongful conviction was overturned based
on significant evidence of innocence.
State compensation levels are to be simi-
lar to amounts paid by the federal govern-
ment, according to House Bill 1341. A
wrongly convicted person would receive
$50,000 for each year of imprisonment,
including time spent awaiting trial. An addi-
tional $50,000 is awarded for each year on
death row. A person will receive $25,000 for
each year on parole, community custody, or
as a registered sex offender.
The state will also pay all child support
owed while the claimant was in custody, and
reimburse all court and attorneys’ fees up to
$75,000.
In addition, in-state college tuition
waivers will be provided for the person who
was wrongfully convicted, as well as his or
her children and/or step-children.
— ALCOHOL: Two measures, House Bill
1001 and Senate Bill 5607, will allow the-
See CAMERA on page 3
See LAWS on page 3
Afifa Ahmed-Shafi, 1978-2013
Services for beloved Washington transplant who died unexpectedly
F
uneral services for Afifa Ahmed-Shafi
are Wednesday, July 31, sometime after
5:30 p.m., at Eilnan’s Funeral Home, 915
By-Pass Highway, Richland, WA.
A Muslim Portlander, born on the Fourth
of July, Ahmed-Shafi’s career and commu-
nity activism typified a love of country and
a love of community even when the two at
times seemed to be at odds with each other.
She was born in Charlotte, N.C., and lived
in Kennewick for 13 years before moving to
Portland.
Ahmed-Shafi was Public Involvement
Best Practices Coordinator at the City of
Portland Office of Neighborhood Involve-
ment, and leaves behind a huge community
of friends, colleagues and associates.
As a volunteer for KBOO Community
Radio, Ahmed-Shafi anchored the KBOO
Evening News for one night each week for
years. She was also a founding member of
the Asian Pacific American Compass news
and public affairs collective, conducting
interviews on issues impacting the APA
community.
The APA Compass episode marking the
U.S. assassination of Osama Bin Laden in
2011, which featured Ahmad-Shafi and
See SHAFI on page 3