The rules of Washington Park say it closes after 11 p.m., but on the evening of October 28, Occupy Rochester wasn't going to let that get in the way of a good protest. And Jonathan Foster, RIT photojournalism major on assignment from his school magazine, wasn't going to let that get in the way of a good photo story.

Later that night, Foster posted bail.

And early the next morning was arraigned.

"They said, ‘That’s it. You’re done,'" the Democrat and Chronicle quoted Foster as recounting the police telling him.

On Nov. 17, Foster posted a short statement (linked above) to the Facebook wall of a page called Occupied Journalists, it reads in part: "I will appear before the judge with my lawyer, Mickey Osterreicher [the National Press Photographers Association Advocacy Committee's General Counsel], again on December 14th, 2011 when the case will be argued. ... The assistant district attorney offered me 'the same thing as all the other protesters,' an ACD [adjournment in contemplation of dismissal] with 24 hours of community service or a hearing on the 14th. I was not protesting that night, nor have I in the other times that I have photographed at Occupy Rochester or Occupy Wall St. I wanted to spread the word, and to emphasize knowledge of rights, professionalism, and a belief in the credibility of what we do.

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-jf"

The story quotes Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who said, "It's open season on photographers all across America." Usually charges are dropped, she said, and she's surprised the prosecution is going forward.