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   From: js@phendrie.con   
      
   A new bill in the Florida House of Representatives would make it illegal to   
   approach a cop within 30 feet if the officer warns the person not to do so,   
   effectively criminalizing the filming of law enforcement at any close   
   proximity.   
      
   The legislation, filed by Rep. Alex Rizo (R–Hialeah), would make it unlawful   
   to   
   "interrupt, disrupt, hinder, impede, or interfere" with a police officer within   
   that radius. It would also criminalize "indirect[] harass[ment]." Whether or   
   not   
   someone crosses that line would be up to the discretion of the officer, and   
   would be punished by a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail.   
      
   It is beyond debate that the public has a constitutional right to film police   
   on   
   the job. "There is a long line of First Amendment case law from the high court   
   that supports the right to record the police," notes the Electronic Frontier   
   Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for digital rights. "Federal appellate   
   courts in the First…Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits have   
   directly upheld this right."   
      
   "It's hard to see such a blanket ban as anything but a targeted assault on   
   First   
   Amendment activity," says Ari Cohn, a First Amendment lawyer who works at   
   TechFreedom, a think tank dedicated to technology issues. "Cops have long tried   
   claiming that the act of filming them in itself obstructs their ability to do   
   their job…and now that this argument failed, they are rather transparently   
   trying to create a safe space from observation by the people they are sworn to   
   serve."   
      
   House Bill 11 seeks to circumvent the Constitution, giving Florida officers a   
   weapon to shut down public documentation under the guise of "harassment" that,   
   as stated in the bill, does not have to be "direct." It remains unclear what   
   would qualify as indirect harassment, though filming seems like a good   
   candidate.   
      
   https://reason.com/2021/07/27/florida-bill-criminalize-filming-c   
   ps-first-amendment/   
      
   "If the police don't want to be filmed or observed, they should get out of the   
   public service field."   
      
   This law will be overturned the first time it is challenged.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)