Tag
First Amendment Watch

First Amendment Watch, Free Speech Center Unite in Educational Video Project

The first release from First Amendment Watch at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University focuses on the rights of those who wish to photograph or record video of police officers in public places.

Read More

Demonstrators hold a protest rally the week after an unarmed man was shot dead by police in Phoenix

Preliminary Injunction Blocks Arizona Law Restricting Recording of Police

Judge John Tuchi for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona granted the motion for a preliminary injunction Friday and enjoined enforcement of the law pending resolution of the case on the merits, according to Ballard Spahr attorney Matthew E. Kelley, who represents an alliance of press groups in opposition to the law.

Read More

Demonstrators hold a protest rally the week after an unarmed man was shot dead by police in Phoenix

Press Groups, ACLU Challenge Arizona’s Law Restricting Recording of Police Officers

The motion filed Tuesday morning argues that the law, known as HB2319, is a content-based restriction on speech and would have a chilling effect not only on the First Amendment activities of visual journalists “whose job it is to document the newsworthy activities of public servants in public places” but would also affect the general public who “simply wants to record what law enforcement officers are doing."

Read More

Demonstrators hold a protest rally the week after an unarmed man was shot dead by police in Phoenix

Next Up: Lawsuit Imminent to Challenge New Arizona Law Restricting the Recording of Police

There's no hesitancy among free press and media legal scholars who are asked whether the law is constitutional. There's consensus: It's not. They base their views on numerous rulings of federal appeals courts on the issue.

Read More

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

Arizona Governor Signs Bill to Restrict Recording Police in Public

Arizona Gov. Douglas Ducey signed into law a bill that would make it illegal to photograph or record a police officer in public from a distance of eight feet without the officer’s permission.

Read More

floyd

Watch: Open Courts & Racial Justice

The world will be watching when the trial over George Floyd's killing opens this month. Listen to a panel discussion on how the First Amendment’s promise of public trials is playing out in an American courtroom amid the pandemic.

Read More