Critics of a new Louisiana law, which makes it a crime to approach within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of a police officer under certain circumstances, fear that the measure could hinder the public’s ability to film officers — a tool that has increasingly been used to hold police accountable.
Under the law, anyone who is convicted of “knowingly or intentionally” approaching an officer, who is “lawfully engaged in the execution of his official duties,” and after being ordered to “stop approaching or retreat” faces up to a $500 fine, up to 60 days in jail or both. The law was signed by Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, Tuesday and goes into effect Aug. 1.
I don’t suppose the law will actually go into effect August 1st. We already have cases like Turner v Driver that have clearly established the right to record officers in the performance of their duties. So then this law would need to be narrowly tailored to infringe upon 1A as minimally as necessary, and it doesn’t.
After what happened in arizona, I think the governor is just wasting everyone’s time, or perhaps he’s trying to take advantage of the crazy results that come out of the appeals courts down there. But on issues like this, the courts have not been on the side of the pigs.
This some fascist shit. Why is the government so obsessed with shielding cops from accountability?
Police Unions and lobbyists. Police Unions are one of the few times unions aren’t necessarily a good thing.
All public sector unions are wrong.
Because Republicans are fascists and Democrats are spineless.
Democrats aren’t spineless. they are operating in a world where republicans own the majority of the media and will repeat whatever they say. For example, The democrats lost a lot of local elections last cycle because republican media scared everyone into thinking crime rates were soaring even though they’re at all time lows. Republicans have gerrymandered so well that they have to be extremely careful or risk losing even in states where they have the majority of voters.
Republicans have been playing a long game starting with Regan and they are in their end game now.
LoL there’s no way the police ain’t gonna abuse this law.
They will start charging at people shouting for them to move back then just grab them and beat the tar out of them.
Wait until they learn about zoom lenses.
Zoom lenses are great, unfortunately most phones only have wide angle lenses.
How close can they get to ligma?
So much freedumb. When are cops lawful? They break laws constantly.
How close do you need to be to take cell phone video of police without being a distraction?
25 feet feels a bit much, but understandable. I can certainly record people 25 feet away with very good detail.
However, does that radius expand if a second cop gets in between and starts walking your way? That sounds like an entrapment issue.
I didn’t approach, he ran at me!
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a distraction. The First Amendment allows you to be a distraction. It’s been your right for the last 250 years to be a distraction.
But I’m trying to understand why you think this is understandable. To me, it’s understandable if you’re a cop trying to cover up your own illegal actions. If you’re 25 ft away, you cannot read the cop’s name tag, and if you ask them their name they will pretend not to hear you, so it’s harder to hold them accountable if you observe them doing something wrong. Similarly, if a cop is trying to plant evidence, you really want to have higher resolution video. Something grainy is not as useful in court.
Remember what laws are already on the books. Then try to tell yourself a story about why those laws aren’t good enough. If you physically interfere with an officer, or if you threaten to do anything physical to them, they already have the authority to arrest you for it. So if you think this new law is necessary, what precise behavior is it that you think is preventing cops from doing their jobs that wasn’t already illegal?
Obviously, if shit goes down and people whip out cell phones, it doesn’t magically turn everyone into guerrilla cinematographers bumping elbows with police to get the best angle. So if not 25 feet, what would you say is a respectable buffer zone between bystander and interfering?
Like they’re gonna care how far you really were.
It’s far enough that recording clear video in darker settings would be harder since most zoom lenses suck in low light. Audio would be harder to pickup as well.
The point of the Arizona law is to prevent you from recording your own encounter with an officer. You can’t ask an officer to stand 25 feet away from your car after being pulled over.
This needs to be challenged with the “one-party consent” law that allows for both parties of a phone conversation to record if one is recording. If I’m being recorded, I should maintain the right to record.
Yet another reason to avoid the deep south.
Walk away from police? Jail.
Walk towards police? Believe or not, also jail!
