FAC filed an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Pacific Media Workers Guild v. City of Modesto, a lawsuit challenging Modesto’s ordinance that bans the wearing of facial coverings and personal protective gear at protests.
The ordinance prohibits the use of standard safety gear often worn by journalists and that newsrooms often provide to their staff. FAC mobilized opposition to the ordinance, highlighting how it interfered with journalists’ ability to safely report on protests and the police response to them. Following months of opposition, including by ACLU of Northern California and community groups, the city adopted a new version of the ordinance that FAC and ACLU continued to oppose. The ACLU filed a lawsuit, arguing that the ordinance violates the rights of both protesters and journalists covering protests.
FAC’s brief supports the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of the ordinance. It emphasizes the role of the press in covering protests, the threats to safety and documented harms to journalists when doing so, and the importance of personal protective gear in allowing journalists to report on protests without undue fear of serious injury or death. The brief focuses on California law guaranteeing journalists the right to remain and gather news in areas closed by police when an unlawful assembly is declared at a protest.
The amicus brief was joined by Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, Freedom of the Press Foundation, The McClatchy Company, LLC, National Press Photographers Association, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Society of Professional Journalists of Northern California.
For more information, visit the ACLU of Northern California case page.
Legal Documents:
- Order Granting Motion for Preliminary Injunction (7/1/2026)
- Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction (6/9/2026)