PHOENIX — The defendants in a federal lawsuit about Arizona's police videotaping ban will not oppose a preliminary injunction request to prevent the enforcement of the new law, according to recent court filings.
There's a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Friday about House Bill 2319. The law, scheduled to take effect later this month, bans most people from videotaping police action from less than eight feet away. Violations are a misdemeanor crime.
The ACLU and Arizona media organizations, including ABC15 are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which claims the videotaping ban violates the First Amendment.
In a court filing late last week, the Maricopa County sheriff and county attorney said they take no position on the law's constitutionality. The Arizona attorney general’s court filing said he's not the proper party to sue because his office doesn’t handle misdemeanor cases and, therefore, would not be enforcing the law.
