The Republican leaders of the Arizona Legislature won't try to defend a new law limiting up- close filming of police officers that has been blocked by a federal judge.
The Senate President and House Speaker both said they wouldn't intervene in the case by the Friday deadline set by the federal judge.
The bill was challenged by news media organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union.
The groups will ask that the law be permanently blocked.
If he can craft a law that passes constitutional muster, he will review the ruling. Tuchi agreed with the challengers that the law runs afoul of precedents that say the public has a right to film police doing their job.
There are already laws in Arizona that prohibit interfering with police and that singling out people for taking videos appears to be unconstitutional. He wrote that barring someone from using a phone or news video camera to record is a content-based restriction that is illegal.
If the goal of the bill is to prevent interference with law enforcement activities, the court fails to see how the presence of a person recording a video near an officer affects the officer's activities.
If an officer tells a person to stop filming, it's against the law to film them. On private property, an officer can order someone to stop filming if they decide someone is interfering or the area is unsafe.
Bystander cellphone videos have been credited with revealing police wrongdoing, such as with the 2020 killing of George Floyd at the hands ofMinneapolis officers. The legislation was necessary to limit people with cameras who impede officers.
The proposal was passed despite warnings from the National Press Photographers Association and the American Civil Liberties Union that it would be unconstitutional. More than two dozen press groups and media companies, including The Associated Press, wrote to the Republican governor urging him to veto the bill, which they said was unconstitutional. The bill was signed by the governor.
The law was called unconstitutional by the general counsel for the photographers association.
He said that writing a letter is easier than filing a lawsuit. Some people like to do it easy and others have to do it hard.
The prosecutor and sheriff's office refused to defend the law after a coalition of media groups and the American Civil Liberties Union sued.
The Republicans ignored opponents who said the bill was unconstitutional.
When you get to where you have to spend money, no. We are going to wait until next year.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
