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Judge didn't get the memo: Rules no right to Ohotograph Police
Plaintiffs had no First Amendment right to take cellphone video of police [abajournal.com], federal judge rules.
A federal judge in Philadelphia has ruled that citizens don’t have a First Amendment right to take cellphone videos of police unless they are challenging or criticizing the police conduct.
A Temple University student, took a cellphone photo of about 20 police officers standing outside a house party because he thought it would be an interesting picture.
In a separate incident, a trained legal observer tried to move closer to see and possibly record an arrest during a protest of hydraulic fracturing.
The cases were consolidated (for un-stated reasons) and U.S. District Judge Mark Kearney said that both subjects would have to show their behavior was “expressive conduct” to support a First Amendment claim.
Neither plaintiff could meet that burden because neither told the police at the time why they wanted to capture the images.
