Topic
News Gathering
Portland

Oregon District Court Bars Federal Agents From Targeting Journalists

The judge extended a preliminary injunction prohibiting federal agents from "arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force" against journalists or legal observers. An attorney working with the ACLU on the case called the court's decision "a crucial victory for civil liberties and freedom of the press." 

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Cuomo

Governor Cuomo Signs Legislation Affirming Right to Record Police

The legislation affirms the right of individuals to record law enforcement activity, and to keep their recordings. The law goes into effect in 30 days.

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A protester photographs a protest with his cellphone in St. Louis, Missouri, following the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd.

First Amendment Watch Releases a Citizen’s Guide to Recording Police

The First Amendment right to record public officials such as the police performing their official duties in public is central to our democracy. Without the ability to document and disseminate such information, citizens would lack an indispensable tool for keeping the public informed, and for holding their leaders accountable.

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Stephanie Grisham

D.C. Circuit Upholds Injunction Blocking White House From Revoking Reporter’s Press Pass

While the White House had a legitimate interest in maintaining a degree of control over media access to the White House, U.S. Circuit Judge David Tatel wrote that the administration could not do so in a way that interfered with a reporter’s due process rights.

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Memphis Mayor

Memphis Journalist Sues Mayor For Excluding Her on Media Advisory List

“No politician likes being the subject of critical coverage, but that comes with elected office, and I would be abdicating my role as a journalist if I failed to hold local government, including the City of Memphis, accountable,” Thomas said in a press statement.

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New Hampshire Police

ACLU Sues NH City Police Department for Violating Resident’s First Amendment Right to Record Police

“To allow automatic warrantless seizures of bystanders’ cell phones containing recordings of police interactions without any evidence of exigency would deeply chill the First Amendment right to record, as the public simply would not exercise this constitutional right out of fear that doing so would authorize law enforcement to seize one’s phone and hold it indefinitely,” the complaint reads.

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Kaitlan Collins

White House Asks CNN Reporter to Move to the Back of Press Briefing Room

When Collins and another reporter refused to swap seats, the White House official allegedly told the reporters that the matter would be handled by the Secret Service.

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Mass Burials

NYPD Seizes Photojournalist’s Drone After He Documented Mass-Burials

"While public safety is certainly part of any reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions...we are very concerned that this antiquated 'avigation' law is being used in an arbitrary and capricious manner to chill newsgathering efforts to report on a matter of grave public concern," Mickey Osterreicher, the general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, said in a statement.

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