Dallas State Rep. Jason Villalba (R) Wants to Restrict Where Citizens Can Photograph Cops
State Representative Jason Villalba, a Dallas Republican, is close to a lot of cops. The best man in his wedding was a police officer. So is his uncle and various other friends and family members. So when his friends in the law enforcement community suggested the creation of a 25-foot "halo" around police operations to keep increasingly ubiquitous citizen-photographers from interfering with their duties, he filed a bill -- HB 2918 -- to do exactly that. It would create a separate, 100-foot halo for any photographer carrying a handgun.
Anyone caught filming within the 25-foot radius could be prosecuted for a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. For gun-carriers who step within 100 feet, it would be a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
"I thought that was reasonable, 25 feet," Villalba says. "I measured that out in my office. It didn't seem to be terribly disruptive. I'm not trying to limit the ability to film. I don't have any problems with that."
Civil libertarians, who have been howling in protest since the bill was filed Tuesday, beg to differ. They view the measure as an attempt to stifle free speech and shield from accountability police officers who overstep their authority. They're also uncomfortable with a provision that exempts from prosecution members of the "news media," which is defined rather archaically to include only FCC-licensed radio and TV stations and general-interest newspapers and magazines. Internet-only news sites, bloggers, citizen-journalists, and activists would not be covered. It took Frisco libertarian activist Brett Sanders all of .02 seconds to reference the Third Reich:
— Brett Sanders (@brettsanders) March 12, 2015
Read more: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2015/03/dallas_state_rep_jason_villalba_wants_to_restrict_where_citizens_can_photograph_cops.php
[font color=green]How will they get footage for Candid Camera?[/font]
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