The courts say you have a right to video-record the police. They also say police have the right to do their work unimpeded. And with the spread of ubiquitous video-recording devices, those two rights have increasingly come into conflict.
Arizona passed the first such buffer zone law in 2022, and it specifically banned video-recording police from less than eight feet. The law was challenged and overturned, partially on First Amendment grounds. Since then, Indiana, Florida and Louisiana have all passed laws that set a distance, but don’t explicitly ban video.
Verite News is one of several news organizations taking part in a lawsuit brought by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press challenging Louisiana’s 25-foot buffer zone law, which took effect this month.
Critics of buffer zone laws say police can already arrest people for obstructing their work; but if a state codifies a specific distance, it may give police reason to arrest people who are just passively observing them.