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Federal judge strikes down Arizona law limiting recording of police as unconstitutional (thehill.com)

submitted 1 year ago by DevCat@lemmy.world to c/usa@lemmy.ml

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2020607

An Arizona law limiting how close people can get to police while recording them was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in a Friday ruling.

The law would have made it illegal to film police officers within 8 feet of law enforcement activity if the officer had requested the citizen or journalist to stop filming. In addition, officers could have ordered anyone filming on public property to stop if they determined the area was unsafe or if the person filming was interfering.

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[–] blue_zephyr@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yeah and then they'll approach you while you're filming their colleague murdering a suspect. They'll demand you turn off the camera and follow you around so they can arrest you for being too close, then "accidentally" smash your phone.

They don't deserve that kind of power.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yup. The law shouldn't be based on proximity to an officer, but instead proximity to a crime scene or legally detained individual, and those should be specifically defined. You should always be able to film as close to an officer as you choose, provided you're not interfering in any real way with their investigation.

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Or there should be a law restricting filming police at all.