Newsgathering

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal of a case involving the open recording of police officers in Illinois while on the job.

An amendment to Kansas court rules now lets journalists use laptops and cell phones to report from the courtroom.

Reporters still need permission from the presiding judge, but the recent amendment to Rule 1001 clarifies that such devices may be used by journalists. Before the amendment was added, there was no mention of laptops or smartphones in the rule, and judges assumed such devices were not permitted, according to court spokesman Ron Keefover.

A federal judge in Harrisburg, Pa., ruled Tuesday that a protocol limiting the ability of witnesses to see and hear all phases of an execution violates the First Amendment-based right of public access to judicial proceedings.

The court in Philadelphia Inquirer v. Wetzel ruled that because historically witnesses have been permitted full access to executions and such access would not jeopardize the safety of lethal injection administrators, all phases of execution procedures must be accessible to the public.

Two photographers whose cameras were confiscated and photos were deleted for taking pictures near customs buldings at the California/Mexico border have sued the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency for violating their First and Fourth Amendment rights.

A New Jersey state appeals court has reinstated a civil right lawsuit filed by a documentary filmmaker who claimed that a member of the Trenton Police Department harassed him while he was filming a project on street gangs.

A three-judge panel of the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division concluded in an opinion released last Friday that Kelly Ramos had both a First Amendment and state constitutional right to videotape gang activities as well as interactions between gang members and police officers.

At least five journalists have been arrested in Manhattan while covering Occupy Wall Street protests marking the one-year anniversary of the movement.

New York City police said the department has arrested 146 people between Saturday and this afternoon. Those arrested include Hunter College student journalist John Bolger, economic journalist Mark Provost, illustrator Molly Crabapple and photojournalists Julia Reinhart and Charles Meacham.