A federal judge has stopped the enforcement of a Louisiana law that makes it illegal to come within 25 feet of a police officer who is working, if the officer asks or orders the person to step back.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge John deGravelles issued a preliminary injunction, saying that the law violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because it is too vague, according to The Advocate/Times-Picayune.
Several media outlets had sued over the law, which was approved by the Louisiana Legislature and took effect on August 1. A court hearing was held in December.
Judge deGravelles wrote that the law does not clearly explain what actions might cause officers to order someone to retreat, and it does not provide standards for officers to follow when issuing such orders. He added, “The threat of arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement is great.”
Under the law, anyone convicted of “knowingly or intentionally” approaching an officer who is performing “official duties,” after being ordered to “stop approaching or retreat,” could face up to 60 days in jail, a maximum $500 fine, or both.
Opponents of the law argue that the “buffer zone” could also limit reporters’ rights to film and observe police officers, thereby infringing on their ability to gather news. Judge deGravelles wrote, “Plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to gather the news is likely to be impaired if the Act is not enjoined.”
The state’s attorneys are defending the law and had asked the judge to dismiss the case, which deGravelles declined to do on Friday. In December, the state’s lawyers argued that media outlets were presenting “hypothetical” situations and noted that no arrests related to the new law had been made.
Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement on Friday that she would continue to defend the law in court. “We think it is a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction from obstructing and interfering with working police,” she said. “We are trying to protect the public. This is a reasonable law.”
Similar laws have been passed in other states in recent years, but courts in Arizona and Indiana have blocked such measures from being enforced.
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