Federal Court: First Amendment Does Not Generally Protect Public Filming Of Police In Public

Jonathan Turley

Federal and state courts have handed down a virtually uniform line of rulings protecting the right of citizens to film police in public. That is until the February 19th decision of U.S. District Judge Mark Kearney. Kearney was only put on the federal courts in 2014 by President Obama but has written his first major ruling in curtailing the rights of citizens under the First Amendment. Kearney used that there is no First Amendment right to film police unless they can show that they are challenging or criticizing the police conduct.

The decision concerned Richard Fields, a Temple University student, who took a cellphone photo of roughly 20 police officers standing outside a house party. The police officer asked Fields to leave and stop taking pictures. Fields refused and officer then arrested him.......Here is the opinion: Kearney Opinion

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