Associated Press
PHOENIX — An Arizona lawmaker who wanted to bar the public from videotaping law enforcement officers from close range said Wednesday that he will withdraw his proposed legislation.
Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh introduced the legislation early this month, saying police were being endangered by people rushing up to record them while they made arrests. The bill would have barred videotaping police from 20 feet or closer while they were making arrests or having other contact with the public.
“I will go my grave fervently believing there is nothing unreasonable about saying to people if you are going to videotape police you have to state 1½ car lengths away,” Kavanagh said. “However, the opposition formed on both sides of the political spectrum, which is the clearly the death penalty for any bill.”
Civil rights lawyers came out in force against Senate Bill 1064, saying it violated the First Amendment.
Attorney Dan Pochoda of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona said the proposal was unconstitutional. He noted that courts have ruled people have a First Amendment right to videotape police.
“There’s now a clearly established right in the (9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) and most circuits in this country to observe and record the activity of law enforcement in public spaces,” Pochoda said on Jan. 7.
The proposal was the latest to emerge in legislatures across the nation as lawmakers grapple with increased scrutiny of officers after shootings. Various pieces of police-shooting legislation were considered last year, including proposals requiring police to wear body cameras or mandating that shooting investigations be done by outside agencies.
Arizona’s Legislature passed a GOP-championed law last year that would have kept the names of officers involved in shootings secret for two months to protect their safety. That law was vetoed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey amid pressure from police chiefs who told him that an arbitrary hold on releasing the names of officers would limit their ability to manage complex community-police relations.
Pochoda called Kavanagh’s proposal unnecessary, especially because current law allows police to order people to move back or face arrest if they are actually interfering with an officer.
Kavanagh’s decision was first reported by the Arizona Republic.
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