Tackling an issue near and dear to our hearts, Steven Colbert ran a segment last night about photographers getting “nailed” for the (non)crime of taking pictures in train stations. He follows the story of a deeply scary, cat-walking photographer who was arrested after shooting some “shiny” trains in New York’s Penn Station. For his terrorist plot? No, for the Amtrak photography contest, of course.

We’re quite familiar with the story here in D.C., having covered in depth the confusion over which photography rules can be enforced and how at Union Station. We saw Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton hold a Congressional hearing on the unconstitutionality of those rules, and continued to watch as, unsurprisingly, nothing was done about it. Fox 5 got the irony award for Getting Hassled While Reporting On Illegal Hassling.

For their part, Amtrak has somewhat toothlessly responded to stories like Duane Kerzic’s arrest by promising to develop “new photography guidelines that will be posted on the carrier’s Web site” and that “existing Amtrak police department guidelines are being reviewed and updated.”

Photography right’s advocates should get a good chuckle over Colbert’s piece. Maybe we should invite him to speak before Congress next time? Assuming congressmembers would, you know, get the joke.