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</nav> </div> </nav> </header> <div id="content" class="site-content"> <div id="primary" class="content-area"> <main id="main" class="site-main"> <div class="post"> <article id="post-70189"> <div class="post__wrapper"> <header class="post-header"> <h1 class="post-header__entry-title">Deep South Today, d/b/a Verite News v. Murrill</h1> <div class="post-header__breadcrumb"> <h2 class="post-breadcrumb__title" id="post-breadcrumb-4"> Post categories</h2> <ol class="post-breadcrumb" aria-labelledby="post-breadcrumb-4"> <li class="post-breadcrumb__item"> <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/category/first-amendment/" class="post-breadcrumb__link"> First Amendment </a> </li> </ol> </div> <div class="post-header__subheader"> A media coalition is challenging Louisiana’s police ‘encroachment’ law with free legal support from RCFP attorneys. </div> </header> <div class="post__rich-text"> <p><strong>Case Number:</strong> 3:24-cv-00623-RLB-SDJ</p> <p><strong>Court:</strong> U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana</p> <p><strong>Clients:</strong> Deep South Today, d/b/a Verite News, TEGNA Inc., Scripps Media Inc., Nexstar Media Inc., Gray Local Media, Inc., and Gannett Co., Inc.</p> <p><strong>Complaint Filed:</strong> July 31, 2024</p> <p><strong>Background:</strong> In May 2024, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law <a href="https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=245747">HB 173</a>, which makes it a crime to approach within 25 feet of a law enforcement officer after being told to stay back. </p> <p>The law, which is set to go into effect on Aug. 1, is broad, authorizing officers to issue a dispersal order even if an individual doesn’t pose a safety risk and is not obstructing law enforcement. It also does not require officers to accommodate the First Amendment right to report on government activity. </p> <p>On behalf of Deep South Today, d/b/a Verite News, TEGNA Inc., Scripps Media Inc., Nexstar Media Inc., Gray Local Media, Inc., and Gannett Co., Inc., attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Sternberg Naccari & White LLC sued Louisiana’s attorney general, the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, and the East Baton Rouge district attorney, asking the court to find that the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments and to block its enforcement. </p> <p>The lawsuit argues that reporters routinely come into close contact with police officers when covering press conferences, major sports games, and protests, and that the law will discourage them from documenting and reporting on newsworthy events for fear of arrest. </p> <p><strong>From the Complaint:</strong> “Once the Act goes into effect, whenever one of Plaintiff’s journalists is told to withdraw while standing within 25 feet of law enforcement, that reporter will be put to a choice between committing a crime or forgoing newsgathering.”</p> <p><strong>Related:</strong> In October 2023, Reporters Committee attorneys <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/litigation/rcfp-v-rokita/">filed a lawsuit</a> challenging a nearly identical law passed in Indiana. Reporters Committee Legal Fellow Emily Hockett <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/indiana-police-encroachment-law/">previously highlighted</a> the chilling effect that these laws could have on public-interest reporting in The Nuance, a newsletter produced by RCFP’s Technology and Press Freedom Project.</p> <p><strong>Co-counsel:</strong> Sternberg Naccari & White LLC</p> <p><em><strong>Update:</strong> On Jan. 31, 2025, the district court <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/louisiana-police-buffer-law-ruling/">blocked the state from enforcing the police “buffer zone” law</a>, concluding that the statute is unconstitutionally vague and “allows for arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.”</em></p> <p><strong>Filings:</strong></p> <p>2024-07-31: <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-07-31-Verite-News-v.-Murrill-Complaint.pdf">Complaint</a></p> <p>2024-09-13: <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-09-13-Verite-News-v.-Murrill-Motion-for-preliminary-injunction.pdf">Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction</a></p> <p>2024-09-13: <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-09-13-Verite-News-v.-Murrill-Memo-of-law-in-support-of-motion-for-preliminary-injunction.pdf">Memorandum of law in support of plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction</a></p> <p>2024-11-14: <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2024-11-14-Verite-News-v.-Murrill-Opposition-to-motion-to-dismiss.pdf">Combined opposition to defendants’ motion to dismiss and reply in further support of plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction</a></p> <p>2025-01-31: <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-01-31-Verite-News-v.-Murrill-District-court-ruling.pdf">Ruling and order</a></p> </div> </div> <div class="widget-newsletter"> <section> <h2 class="widget-newsletter__title"> Stay informed by signing up for our mailing list </h2> <p class="widget-newsletter__description"> Keep up with our work by signing up to receive our monthly newsletter. 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