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ARTICLE · 19 JULY 2017

Third Circuit: First Amendment Protects Those Recording Police In Public

Duane Morris LLP
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Is the recording of police carrying out their official duties in public places protected by the First Amendment?

United StatesGovernment, Public Sector

There is a First Amendment right to record public police activity, and those doing so will be protected from retaliation from this point forward.

Is the recording of police carrying out their official duties in public places protected by the First Amendment? Recently, in a case with implications for news organizations as well as citizen-observers, a federal court judge dismissed the First Amendment claims of two citizens against police officers who disrupted, inspected, restrained and/or cited them while they were recording police officers operating in public. In Richard Fields v. City of Philadelphia, 16-1650, 2017 WL 2884391 (3d Cir. July 7, 2017), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed, holding that the First Amendment protects this activity.

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