Gannett v. Long
Case Number: 3:25-cv-00830
Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
Clients: Gannett, Gray Local Media, Nashville Banner, Nexstar Media Group, Scripps Media, Tennessee Lookout, and TEGNA
Background: In May 2025, Gov. Bill Lee signed into law SB 30, which makes it a crime to approach within 25 feet of a law enforcement officer after being told to stay back in certain situations.
The law, which went into effect on July 1, 2025, is similar to police “buffer zone” laws previously passed in Indiana and Louisiana, both of which have been blocked by federal district courts in response to successful legal challenges brought by media coalitions represented by attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. It grants law enforcement officers standardless discretion to bar journalists and the public from reporting — for any reason or no reason — on a wide range of newsworthy events.
The law authorizes officers to order individuals to stay back even if they don’t pose a safety risk and are not obstructing law enforcement. It also does not require officers to accommodate the First Amendment right to report on government activity.
On behalf of Gannett, Gray Local Media, Nashville Banner, Nexstar Media Group, Scripps Media, Tennessee Lookout, and TEGNA, Reporters Committee attorneys filed this lawsuit against the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security and other public officials, alleging that the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The lawsuit argues that reporters routinely come into close contact with police officers during the course of their reporting, and that the law discourages them from documenting protests, festivals, and other newsworthy events for fear of arrest.
Quote: “These buffer laws jeopardize reporters’ ability to bring their communities some of the news that matters most — about crime, disaster response, police misconduct, and more,” said Reporters Committee Staff Attorney Grayson Clary, who is representing the media coalition alongside Paul McAdoo, RCFP’s Local Legal Initiative attorney for Tennessee. “When law enforcement pushes the press out of eye and earshot, it’s the public that ultimately loses out.”
Related: Learn more about Reporters Committee attorneys’ efforts to challenge the constitutionality of police buffer zone laws on behalf of media coalitions.
Filings:
2025-07-22: Complaint
2025-08-22: Memorandum of law in support of media coalition’s motion for a preliminary injunction