Second Circuit Affirms First Amendment Right to Film Police Stations from Public Sidewalks

The Second Circuit, through Judge Myrna Pérez joined by Judge Sarah Merriam, ruled that a citizen’s video of a police station’s exterior taken from a public sidewalk falls within First Amendment protection, aligning the court with eight other circuits that have recognized a right to record law-enforcement activity in public. The decision explained that the Constitution safeguards not only the expression of ideas but also the creation, distribution and consumption of speech, which includes the act of recording.

It further noted that speech concerning governmental affairs occupies the highest tier of First Amendment values and that the public’s access to information about officials is essential to self-government. While the court affirmed the right to capture what is plainly visible, it declined to decide whether the government may impose narrowly tailored limits on recording persons entering or leaving the station or on non-public security features.

Judge Reena Raggi, dissenting, avoided the broader right-to-record question, focusing on qualified-immunity grounds. The plaintiff’s legal team comprised Dan Barrett, Elana Bildner, and Jaclyn Blickley of the ACLU Foundation of Connecticut.