Motion to dismiss

The Department of Justice issued a rare letter supporting the constitutional rights of a photojournalist suing Montgomery County, Md., police officers who arrested him for taking their pictures while on duty.

The Justice’s Statement of Interest issued Monday urges the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to uphold citizens’ constitutional rights to record police officers in their public capacity without being arrested or having the recordings unlawfully seized.

An Occupy Wall Street protester is challenging a court’s decision requiring his tweets to be handed over to New York prosecutors, arguing that his First and Fourth Amendment rights should apply to tweets like they would to information stored on a personal computer or phone.

The Ohio Supreme Court ordered a judge to release all records sealed during the criminal prosecutions of several Mahoning County officials and business owners. The state high court also prohibited the judge from issuing further orders sealing records in the high-profile criminal-conspiracy case.

“We decide this case based on the Rules of Superintendence, which provide for public access to court records,” according to the opinion issued Wednesday.

In a battle between the public's First Amendment rights and law enforcement's application of policy, the public recently found an unlikely ally in the U.S. Department of Justice when it submitted a letter to the Baltimore Police Department supporting a citizen's right to record police activity.

A Massachusetts attorney arrested for using his cellphone to record police officers while they arrested a man in public received a $170,000 settlement for damages and legal fees from the City of Boston on Monday.

A Vermont judge declined to dismiss charges against a newspaper publisher who was charged with criminal trespassing while covering an anti-wind energy protest on Lowell Mountain.