Citizens’ Right to Record the Police (Part 3) This is the third blog post installment in a multi-part series on citizens' right to record the police. The right to record police is broad but not unlimited. The right to record the police, while broad and vital to the healthy functioning of our democracy, is not wholly unlimited. The right only extends to recordings in public or on private property in which the recorder has a possessory interest. Further, someone exercising their right to record is not allowed to break the law to record. For example, if someone trespasses onto private property in order to catch footage, the footage is generally not protected under the First Amendment. The right to record is similarly limited [...]

Citizens’ Right to Record the Police (Part 2) This is the second blog post installment in a multi-part series on citizens' right to record the police. Exercising the right to the record the police can be instrumental to holding officers accountable and seeking justice. In 2021, police in the United States killed 1,149 people. There were only fifteen days during the entire year when an officer did not kill someone. However, unless there is a high profile killing or a video goes viral, the general public typically does not hear about daily police violence. For this reason, it can be extremely important for citizens to exercise the right to record the police performing their duties in public. In many cases, video recordings of [...]

Citizens’ Right to Record the Police (Part 1) This is the first blog post installment in a multi-part series on citizens' right to record the police. In May 2020, millions of people watched viral cell phone footage depicting a former Minneapolis police officer sadistically kneeling on an unarmed, fully restrained Black man's neck for a horrifying nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds, ultimately murdering him. The victim's name was George Floyd, and his final words, "I can't breathe," became the rallying call for weeks of massive protests and an enduring social justice movement fighting against police brutality and systemic racism. Officer Derek Chauvin is currently serving a prison sentence of more than twenty-two years for murdering Mr. Floyd. Seventeen-year-old Darnella Frazier received high praise [...]