Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has signed legislation making it a crime to knowingly approach within 25 feet of a police officer while they are “engaged in law enforcement duties” after the officer has ordered the person to stay back.

Critics of a new Louisiana law, which makes it a crime to approach within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of a police officer under certain circumstances, fear that the measure could hinder the public’s ability to film officers — a tool that has increasingly been used to hold police accountable.

Under the law, anyone who is convicted of “knowingly or intentionally” approaching an officer, who is “lawfully engaged in the execution of his official duties,” and after being ordered to “stop approaching or retreat” faces up to a $500 fine, up to 60 days in jail or both. The law was signed by Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, Tuesday and goes into effect Aug. 1.

While the legislation’s language does not specifically mention filming, critics say that by default it would limit how close a person can be to observe police. Opponents have also gone further to question the law’s constitutionality, saying it could impede on a person’s First Amendment rights.

  • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    525·
    5 months ago

    I’m questioning what prompted this, but the law seems perfectly reasonable in any case.

    25’ is the length of my driveway. I can hear and see a normal conversation quite well at that distance, and I can’t hear for shit. If you’re closer than that and a cop tells you to back it up, why not?

    Cops are mostly dealing with idiots. How close to a potentially volatile situation do you need to be? How close do you want to be? We can still clearly observe the situation at 25’.

    Now if they make filming or speaking illegal, I’m screaming to the heavens. And for the love of God, film these assholes. 25’ will suddenly become much further away if there’s no evidence.

    • Butterpaderp@lemmy.world
      8·
      5 months ago

      Now if they make filming or speaking illegal, I’m screaming to the heavens

      What do you think this law’s mostly going to be used for? It’s not gonna be enforced when they’re ‘dealing with idiots’, it’s gonna be enforced when they don’t want to be filmed doing bad shit.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      3·
      5 months ago

      Every time this law has been passed it’s been used to stop people filming by walking toward them and then arresting them.