I don't always agree with the ACLU's stances, but more often than not, I understand the need for their voice to be heard. In this case, it needs to be loud and clear, preferably through a bullhorn. For a decade or more, individuals and governmental organizations have sought to make photography a crime through various channels, most often by limiting access and harassing photographers. It needs to stop.
Thomas' post has some good information and links on a current case that we can only hope presses through:
http://thomashawk.com/2010/04/hey-u-s-federal-government-photography-is-not-a-crime.html
When I was in Greece a few years ago, wandering the streets of Athens, I had a military officer point an automatic rifle at my face and instruct me to cease and desist from taking photos of the Greek National Bank.
The building on the left behind our group is the National Bank of Greece. Moments after I snapped this, surrounded by our student group, I was instructed in no uncertain terms to stop taking pictures of the building. It was, to say the least, a scary first day in Athens.
We haven't quite gotten that far here in the States (I hope), but it's a powerful lesson to learn:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Ben Franklin
The empty streets of Athens speak of history and civilization, as well as urban devolution and the inevitable passage of time in a day-to-day human way.
Europe, 
