Video

Video Transcript:

Hi, I’m David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition. In this video, I’m going to talk about the right to cover protests, rallies and demonstrations in public.

As a general matter, the First Amendment guarantees the right of the press or public to observe, document, record and report on events that take place in public, including protests, rallies, and demonstrations.

These are newsworthy issues of public concern that you have the right to report on. Now, as always, the government can sometimes impose certain time, place, and manner restrictions. They can say, for example, you can’t necessarily trespass on private property or certainly break into a building or actually interfere physically with a law enforcement officer who is, say, for example, arresting someone or detaining them.

But you do have the right to observe, document, and record that from a reasonably safe distance. I always tell people, don’t argue with a gun in the badge in the moment, but you do have the right to record and report on what is happening in public and how people are protesting and how law enforcement is responding. Now, if, for example, law enforcement officers declare an unlawful assembly and tell people to clear the area as a general matter, the Constitution does not give the press any special rights different from those of members of the public.

Some states, like California, may have statutes or specific laws on the books that do create certain rights for the press, or for reporters specifically, to remain and cross police lines in some circumstances. But as a general matter, the First Amendment, as a constitutional minimum, does not create any rights for the press different from members of the general public.

Bottom line. Cover the news. Report the news. Stay safe. Protect yourself.

If you have questions about this issue or anything else having to do with free speech, free press, or the people’s right to know, please click to contact our legal hotline.