Originally published at: Court strikes down Arizona's law banning filming of police | Boing Boing
…
18 Likes
But Republican Arizona lawmakers initially said the legislation was needed to limit people with cameras who deliberately impede officers.
Has there ever been an incident where a person with a camera deliberately impeded an officer? If so, was the camera the impediment or was it the person themself?
14 Likes
This already exists:
9 Likes
I have no idea if anyone ever has, but Arizona already has an obstruction of justice statute, so if someone filming a police officer actually somehow physically interfered with that officer’s ability to do their job, there was already a statute criminalizing that. This law, based on the justification given, was completely unnecessary.
Yeah, no shit. There is a ton of case law on this issue, and all of it says that filming the police is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. No lawyer with even a first year law school student’s understanding of Constitutional Law would be able to construct a good faith, logical argument in favor of that law. I don’t even think Rudy Giuliani would try to defend that law.
ETA: Big shock. Kavanagh is a retired cop with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He also has a PhD in criminal justice from Rutgers. Rutgers should revoke his degree.
ETA 2: This guy has also proposed legislation that would publish the names and addresses of all eligible voters in elections, and legislation to prohibit oversight boards of police departments unless those boards consisted of 2/3 sworn police officers. That second law actually passed and was signed into law. This man is a fascist.
10 Likes
won’t somebody please think of the homeowners
8 Likes
… the concept of “sworn officers” originally being meant to make them more accountable, and easier to get rid of when they break their “oaths” 
12 Likes
Cops would still attempt to stop the public from filming and in ways that would escalate the situation with that resulting in a cellphone being grabbed and the user on the ground and cuffed. Then just a slap on the wrist for the cop.
4 Likes
It seems like a concern for everyone. People who aren’t homeowners still tend to live on private property. 
8 Likes
Not just that, businesses also including hotels and banks. How extraordinary to think that a bank would be committing a criminal offence if its security cameras recorded police officers responding to a robbery.
5 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
