Read

User menu

Search form

Protecting the Right to Record

Protecting the Right to Record
Fri, 5/4/2012
This article originally appeared on Free Press.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, nine leading free speech and digital rights groups called on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to focus attention on the alarming number of arrests of people documenting Occupy protests. Free Press has chronicled more than 70 such arrests since September.

In a letter delivered to Holder yesterday, World Press Freedom Day, Free Press, along with Access, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the National Press Photographers Association, the New America Foundation, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reporters Without Borders and Witness noted that U.S. police have arrested dozens of journalists, activists and bystanders attempting to document protests in public spaces.

In January, the Justice Department filed a statement urging the U.S. District Court of Maryland to uphold an individual’s “First Amendment right to record police officers in the public discharge of their duties” and to find that “officers violate citizens’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights when they seize and destroy such recordings without warrant or due process.”

Here is the full text of the letter sent to the Justice Department.

According to Josh Stearns, Free Press's Journalism and Public Media campaign director, “The right to record is vital at a time when so many people who witness public protests are carrying networked, camera-ready devices and smartphones. As the media landscape changes, we are witnessing an escalation in First Amendment abuses on the streets and in the halls of power. Freedom of the press is more important, not less, when anyone with a mobile phone or computer can act as a journalist.

“The First Amendment guarantees both freedom of the press and freedom of expression, and those freedoms extend to everyone documenting public events. That's true even if — or perhaps, especially if — law enforcement finds such reporting to be a nuisance. Now, more than ever, we need to proactively protect people’s right to record.”

 

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

If Trump indeed tanks your 401(k) to make himself and his friends even richer, the opposition party should make that the centerpiece of their attack heading into next year’s election.

The burgeoning pro-democracy, anti-Trump movement known as 50501 expects to drive tens and possibly hundreds of thousands to protest in 1,000 cities and towns on Saturday.

The only thing overshadowing the evil of the regime is its incompetence. And the people are only just beginning to realize the power we have.

It isn’t difficult to argue that Musk is likely a white supremacist obsessed with increasing the white birthrate and simultaneously killing off undesirables by cutting off their aid.

In a political earthquake last year, the populist and racist Reform Party took 4.1 million votes, coming third, against a backdrop of collapsing living standards and accelerating impoverishment.

In many European countries, the far right holds or shares power. Democracy is in crisis.

If Trump indeed tanks your 401(k) to make himself and his friends even richer, the opposition party should make that the centerpiece of their attack heading into next year’s election.

The burgeoning pro-democracy, anti-Trump movement known as 50501 expects to drive tens and possibly hundreds of thousands to protest in 1,000 cities and towns on Saturday.

The only thing overshadowing the evil of the regime is its incompetence. And the people are only just beginning to realize the power we have.

A broad range of Americans are organizing a 24-hour economic boycott on February 28th to protest the ongoing actions of the Trump administration and to send a message to corporate America.

The burgeoning pro-democracy, anti-Trump movement known as 50501 expects to drive tens and possibly hundreds of thousands to protest in 1,000 cities and towns on Saturday.

Posted 3 weeks 4 days ago

In many European countries, the far right holds or shares power. Democracy is in crisis.

Posted 2 weeks 3 days ago

If Trump indeed tanks your 401(k) to make himself and his friends even richer, the opposition party should make that the centerpiece of their attack heading into next year’s election.

Posted 2 weeks 3 days ago

The only thing overshadowing the evil of the regime is its incompetence. And the people are only just beginning to realize the power we have.

Posted 3 weeks 4 days ago

The only thing overshadowing the evil of the regime is its incompetence. And the people are only just beginning to realize the power we have.

In many European countries, the far right holds or shares power. Democracy is in crisis.

If Trump indeed tanks your 401(k) to make himself and his friends even richer, the opposition party should make that the centerpiece of their attack heading into next year’s election.

The burgeoning pro-democracy, anti-Trump movement known as 50501 expects to drive tens and possibly hundreds of thousands to protest in 1,000 cities and towns on Saturday.