Do the paparazzi have too much freedom? Celebrity photographers go to great lengths to get shots of the biggest stars. Some think they go too far.

• Author: Burke, Sean
• Position: DEBATE

YES I used to like looking at photos of famous people. But then I became a celebrity bodyguard, and I got to see how the paparazzi really work. Rules rarely matter; it's all about money. They dream of getting the next big shot, and some will do anything to get it.

What most people don't understand is that the paparazzi basically stalk the biggest stars to get their photos. Some sit in cars at the end of a celebrity's driveway 24/7, waiting for them to leave, and then follow them to photograph their every move--just in case something happens that makes the photo worth a lot of money. Maybe the star they're following is going to see a new boyfriend no one knows about yet! And if they can get a photo of the celebrity kissing the new boyfriend, that's big, big money--maybe $1 million big.

Then there are the car chases. Sometimes five cars full of paparazzi will chase after a celebrity. And to make sure they don't lose their target, they'll often speed, run stop signs and traffic lights, and even drive on the wrong side of the road. This reckless driving is dangerous and potentially deadly for everyone near them. In January, a photographer who had been chasing Justin Bieber's white Ferrari on a Los Angeles highway was hit by a car and killed. Princess Diana was killed in 1997 after her driver crashed at high speed trying to elude paparazzi in Paris.

We'll never do away with the paparazzi or the pictures they take, but we can and should have laws to prevent them from stalking celebrities and putting the public's safety at risk.

--SEAN BURKE The Paparazzi Reform initiative

NO The First Amendment protects freedom of the press. Of course, the Founding Fathers couldn't have imagined the paparazzi-photojournalists who make a living pursuing and taking candid pictures of celebrities...