BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed a bill that would have made it a law to criminalize approaching police, saying it would’ve had a chilling effect on First Amendment rights.
The proposed law would have made it a crime to approach a police officer within 25 feet while the officer is carrying out their duties in public. The author of the bill said it was to keep officers safe.
Edwards’ letter to the Speaker of the House said if the bill were law it could prevent bystanders from recording police.
“Each of us has a constitutional right to freely observe public servants as they function in public and within the course and scope of their official duties,” he said.
The ACLU of Louisiana, which previously asked the governor to veto the bill, celebrated Edwards’ decision, saying, “It’s no secret that in recent years, bystander accounts and video footage have been the most powerful evidence of widespread police misconduct. Observations of law enforcement are invaluable in promoting police accountability.”
In its statement, the group added that the bill was “unconstitutionally vague” in describing how or when police could enforce that law.
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