First Circuit Court Rules Recording of Police Protected by First Amendment | Ben Swann Truth In Media: The First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the filming of police officers, during arrests or otherwise, is a constitutional right protected by the First Amendment.
The decision came after Carla Gericke, a New Hampshire native and president of the Free State Project, was arrested in 2010 after attempting to record on her cell phone a traffic stop involving her friend and the Weare Police Department. According to RT, Gericke’s cell phone malfunctioned though and failed to record the incident, but the officer still arrested her on charges of obstruction, disobeying a police officer, and what the courts are calling, “unlawful interception of oral communications.”
Citizen’s rights to record officers in public has been hotly debated over the past few years with many police officers and departments saying citizens do not have the right to film officers while carrying out their duties.
