Everything online journalists need to protect their legal rights. This free resource culls from all Reporters Committee resources and includes exclusive content on digital media law issues.
Journalists opposing the controversial Illinois eavesdropping statute expressed relief when a Chicago official announced that police do not plan to enforce the law when the city hosts the NATO summit in May. A state representative also introduced a bill last week to make it legal to audio record police officers in public.
A cameraman in Minneapolis became a part of the story during an Occupy demonstration Saturday night after a police officer shoved his camera to the ground. The Minneapolis police chief called the incident "stupid" and said the actions of the officer are not endorsed by the police department.
A Connecticut judge recently unsealed search warrant materials in the case of an ex-police officer charged with dozens of offenses related to his alleged unlawful use of the department’s computer database after a local newspaper reporter challenged the secrecy of the court records.
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 photojournalism student was charged with obstruction of justice and resisting arrest after photographing Philadelphia police officers who made a traffic stop outside of his home. Temple University junior Ian Van Kuyk was allegedly thrown to the ground and arrested while taking photographs of police for a class assignment.
A U.S. District Court judge ruled that a civil lawsuit can continue against a Louisiana police chief and four officers accused of violating a former officer's constitutional rights. The court declined to dismiss the civil rights case against the officers who arrested the police veteran for criticizing the chief in email messages to a local newspaper.
Two journalists were handcuffed and detained by Chicago police outside a hospital over the weekend as they waited to speak with the family of a 6-year-old girl who was murdered.
A Cook County judge declared the Illinois eavesdropping statute unconstitutional last week in the case of a street artist who recorded exchanges with police during his arrest.
Judge Stanley Sacks is the second judge to call the statute unconstitutional within the last year. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy also publicly supported audio recording at a panel discussion in January.
An Illinois bill that would decriminalize the audio-recording of police officers engaging in their official duties in public is moving forward to the full state House of Representatives.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has submitted testimony to the Illinois General Assembly in support of an amendment to the state eavesdropping law, which would create an exemption from criminal prosecution for the “[r]ecording of a peace officer who is performing a public duty in a public place and speaking at a volume audible to the unassisted human ear.” House Bill 3944 is an important step in reforming an overly broad law that criminalizes a critically important aspect of the newsgathering process and infringes on cherished First Amendment freedoms, the Repor
Testimony in support of Illinois bill on audio recording of police officers
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has submitted testimony to the Illinois General Assembly in support of an amendment to the state eavesdropping law, which would create an exemption from criminal prosecution for the “[r]ecording of a peace officer who is performing a public duty in a public place and speaking at a volume audible to the unassisted human ear.” House Bill 3944 is an important step in reforming an overly broad law that criminalizes a critically important aspect of the newsgathering process and infringes on cherished First Amendment freedoms, the Repor