Critics of a new Louisiana law, which makes it a crime to approach within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of a police officer under certain circumstances, fear that the measure could hinder the public’s ability to film officers — a tool that has increasingly been used to hold police accountable.
Under the law, anyone who is convicted of “knowingly or intentionally” approaching an officer, who is “lawfully engaged in the execution of his official duties,” and after being ordered to “stop approaching or retreat” faces up to a $500 fine, up to 60 days in jail or both. The law was signed by Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, Tuesday and goes into effect Aug. 1.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a distraction. The First Amendment allows you to be a distraction. It’s been your right for the last 250 years to be a distraction.
But I’m trying to understand why you think this is understandable. To me, it’s understandable if you’re a cop trying to cover up your own illegal actions. If you’re 25 ft away, you cannot read the cop’s name tag, and if you ask them their name they will pretend not to hear you, so it’s harder to hold them accountable if you observe them doing something wrong. Similarly, if a cop is trying to plant evidence, you really want to have higher resolution video. Something grainy is not as useful in court.
Remember what laws are already on the books. Then try to tell yourself a story about why those laws aren’t good enough. If you physically interfere with an officer, or if you threaten to do anything physical to them, they already have the authority to arrest you for it. So if you think this new law is necessary, what precise behavior is it that you think is preventing cops from doing their jobs that wasn’t already illegal?
Obviously, if shit goes down and people whip out cell phones, it doesn’t magically turn everyone into guerrilla cinematographers bumping elbows with police to get the best angle. So if not 25 feet, what would you say is a respectable buffer zone between bystander and interfering?