Defying clearly established First Amendment jurisprudence that protects the right to record police in public without fear of retaliation, a federal appeals court has given police the green light to intimidate and threaten individuals who record police brutality and misconduct. In dismissing a lawsuit by a man who was detained and questioned by police and threatened with arrest after recording police violently punching and head-slamming a suspect, a panel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held in Frasier v. Evans that police are protected by qualified immunity. The Rutherford Institute had filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that individuals have a First Amendment right to collect information about government activities, which includes the right to record police carrying out their duties in public.
Affiliate attorney Chris Moriarty assisted The Rutherford Institute in presenting its arguments.