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A preliminary halt on an Indiana law that would allow law enforcement to keep observers 25 feet away from a police scene was upheld Tuesday by U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which found the law to very likely be unconstitutionally vague.
The court said the police “buffer zone” law likely violates the Fourteenth Amendment because it does not specify what behavior by public bystanders or the media sets the stage for a violation, allowing it to be arbitrarily enforced for any reason or no reason at all.
“The Fourteenth Amendment will not tolerate a law subjecting pedestrians to arrest merely because a police officer had a bad breakfast—no matter how bitter the coffee or how soggy the scrambled eggs,” Judge Doris Pryor wrote for the three-judge 7th Circuit panel.
The ruling was a victory for several Indiana media outlets and journalism organizations, which has joined the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in challenging the law.
The court’s opinion upheld a preliminary injunction issued against the law in September by U.S. District Court Judge James Sweeney in Indianapolis. He approved the injunction because he found the plaintiffs were likely to prove the law violated the 14th Amendment.
The law was approved by the Indiana General Assembly in 2023 and would make it a misdemeanor to knowingly or intentionally approach within 25 feet of a law enforcement officer after being told to stop.
Earlier this year, the Legislature attempted to clarify the law while the federal case was on appeal. The 7th Circuit panel said the second law did not stop the appeals process.
The federal case now returns to the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, which has been asked by the federal appeals court to determine the scope of the preliminary injunction and whether it protects only the plaintiffs or applies to others.
Other organizations that joined the lawsuit challenging the law were the Indiana Broadcasters Association, the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, The Indianapolis Star, Nexstar Media Inc., Scripps Media Inc. and Tegna Inc.
Entities seeking to allow the law to be enforced were Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s Office and the prosecutor and sheriff in Marion County.
The case is Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, et al., v. Todd Rokita, Attorney General of Indiana, et al.
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