Louisiana law that could limit police footage hampers a key tool for racial justice, advocates say

A new Louisiana law that makes it a crime to come within 25 feet of a police officer in certain circumstances is an affront to the movement for racial justice and violates the First Amendment, civil rights lawyers say.

Critics said the law – signed this week by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry — could harm the public’s ability to film officers. Cellphone videos from spectators are widely credited with revealing police misconduct, such as the Murder of George Floyd in 2020 by a white Minneapolis police officer.

“When you enact a law that prevents people from seeing for themselves whether an injustice is being committed, that is the biggest civil rights thing you can do,” said Shean Williams, an attorney with The Cochran Firm in Atlanta.

Williams said images of police attacking protesters during the civil rights movement were critical to his success in advancing racial justice.

Proponents argue that the new law would create a buffer zone to help ensure the safety of officers and that bystanders would still be close enough to film police interactions. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, signed a similar measure into law in April, saying it would help ensure that police officers in his state can “do their jobs without the threat of harassment.”

In a statement at the time, DeSantis made a distinction with “blue states,” saying that Florida would continue to be “the friendliest state in the country to our law enforcement community.”

The author of the Louisiana measure, state Rep. Bryan Fontenot, said the legislation was designed to give police officers “peace of mind and a safe distance to do their jobs.”

“At 25 feet in the air, this person can’t spit in my face when I’m making an arrest,” Fontenot said when presenting his bill in committee earlier this year. “The chances of him hitting me in the back of the head with a beer bottle at 25 feet – it’s definitely a lot harder than if he was sitting here.”

But lawyers say states including Florida and Louisiana already have laws that criminalize efforts to obstruct police.

“The key in all other states is, ‘Are you disruptive to the officer’s conduct? ‘” said Gerry Weber, a constitutional law expert in Atlanta who has represented countless people in lawsuits over videotaping police misconduct. “One of the problems with the Louisiana law is that it creates a presumption that someone is interfering if they are 25 feet and they got a warning.”

Weber helped reach a settlement more than a decade ago that required Atlanta police to stop interfering with people who record officers performing their duties in public.

At least one other state has created a law similar to those in Louisiana and Florida. In 2022, Arizona made it illegal to knowingly film a police officer from a distance of 8 feet or more if the officer told the person to stop.

U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi in Phoenix last year blocked application of that statute, saying it “prohibits or restricts a substantial amount of activities protected by the First Amendment and is unnecessary to prevent interference with law enforcement officers given other Arizona laws in effect.”

Louisiana law does not specifically mention filming. It prohibits the “knowing or intentional” approach of an officer who is “lawfully engaged in the performance of his official duties” after being ordered to “stop approaching or retreat.” Violators face a fine of up to $500, up to 60 days in jail, or both. It comes into force on August 1st.

But even without an explicit reference to the footage, First Amendment concerns remain, said Susan Meyers, senior attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Courts have made it clear that people have the right to observe and film police doing their jobs in public, she said.

“What are they saying? How are they behaving?” she said. “In reality, there are very few ways for the public to hold these public officials accountable for their actions.”

Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, said she felt the importance of filming police firsthand last year, when she and some colleagues were pulled over by an officer who said he suspected the vehicle they were in was stolen.

The car was not stolen and Odoms, who denounced Louisiana’s new law, said he believes the justification was pretextual. On a dark, deserted road, she said filming the encounter gave her comfort.

“I’m probably 8 to 10 feet away from the officer and then 2 to 3 feet away,” she recalled. “I wouldn’t be able to do any of that.”