Federal Appeals Court: You Have a Constitutional Right to Film Police Officers in Public (slate.com)

On Friday, a panel of judges for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the First Amendment protects individuals' right to film police officers performing their official duties. From a report: The 3rd Circuit now joins the 1st, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th Circuits in concluding that the Constitution guarantees a right to record. No federal appeals court has yet concluded that the First Amendment does not safeguard the right to film law enforcement officers conducting police activity in public. Friday's decision involved two instances in which the Philadelphia police retaliated against citizens attempting to film them. In the first incident, a legal observer named Amanda Geraci tried to film police arresting an anti-fracking protester when an officer pinned her against a pillar, preventing her from recording the arrest. In the second, a Temple University sophomore named Richard Fields tried to film police officers breaking up a house party when an officer asked him whether he "like[d] taking pictures of grown men" and demanded that he leave. When Fields refused, the officer arrested and detained him, confiscating his phone and looking through its photos and videos. The officer cited Fields for "Obstructing Highway and Other Public Passages," although the charges were dropped when the officer failed to appear at a court hearing. Geraci and Fields filed civil rights suits against the officers who interfered with their filming attempts.

Comments

Re:It's not like they risk anything.

[Chas]

If you want to talk about fear, look at the statistics.

Blacks are about 13% of the population.
Blacks are responsible for about 46% of violent crimes overall.

In 2016, 46% of all cops killed were killed by black men.
In 2015, 55% of all cops killed were killed by black men.

So, is knowing the stats, and taking extra precautions to control encounters during non-compliance situations racial profiling?
Or is it common sense?
Or is it both?

Remember, it's not an officer's job to die in the line of duty. And if it comes down to the officer being hurt or killed, or a violent/noncompliant suspect being hurt or killed, I'd much rather the officer come out of it alive and uninjured.

Period.