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Access to places: What to do if you are denied access

• If you are denied access to a place where a news event has occurred, you should determine whether the place is a public forum (such as a city street or park), a nonpublic forum public property (such as the county courthouse or jail) or privately owned property.
• Find out who has denied access to you and the grounds for denial.
• If the property is publicly owned and the restriction appears to be discriminatory, consider seeking a court order requiring that you be granted access or ordering officials not to deny access in similar situations in the future.
• If the property is privately owned, and the restriction was imposed by someone other than the owner, it may be invalid.
• If you are ordered to leave by the property owner, do so and contact your editor or news organization's lawyer. Disobeying an order to keep out may result in your arrest, a fine or a lawsuit by the owner.
• If police in your area have press relations guidelines, find out what they say. If police issue press passes and grant access only to reporters who have them, obtain a pass.
• Establish a "plan of attack" for dealing with access problems before they develop, providing names of legal advisers to be called and police officials and other contacts who may be able to facilitate access to the area.

Next section: Access to places: Civil remedy for denied access