SOUTH BEND, Ind. — An Indiana judge ruled against a citizen journalist who recorded an area of police activity while live-streaming the event to his YouTube channel as a violation of the state's new 25-foot law last July.
On Jan. 9, U.S. District Court Judge Damon Leichty of the Northern District of Indiana ruled against the ACLU of Indiana in its case, who had argued Indiana’s 25-foot encroachment law violates citizen-journalists’ constitutional right to observe and record police.
The law, which went into effect on July 1, 2023, prohibits a person from knowingly and intentionally approaching within 25 feet of a law enforcement officer after the officer has ordered the person to stop.
Plaintiff Donald Nicodemus is a citizen journalist who lives in South Bend and monitors the activity of public-safety personnel, primarily the South Bend Police, according to the ACLU.
Nicodemus regularly posts videos on his YouTube channel Freedom 2 Film, which has more than 24,500 subscribers.
South Bend police have been accused by the ACLU of enforcing the new law against Nicodemus to prevent him from getting close enough to observe and record their activities. The ACLU of Indiana filed the lawsuit in August 2023 on behalf of Nicodemus.
“The unbridled discretion given to law enforcement officers by the new 25-foot law allows for, and invites content and viewpoint-based discrimination,” said Ken Falk, legal director at the ACLU of Indiana, when they announced the lawsuit. “This gives police officers unchecked authority to prohibit citizens from approaching within 25 feet of the officers to observe their actions, even if the actions of the citizens are not and will not interfere with the police.”
The edited video reportedly recorded by Nicodemus seemed to show an officer was stepping off what he allegedly indicated was 25 feet from the location where Nicodemus and the other observers were standing and told them that they had to move farther away from the police activity, according to the ACLU.
"At this point, Nicodemus was already unable to observe and record the scene," the ACLU claimed.
The ACLU claimed after approximately 12 minutes, another police officer reportedly approached Nicodemus and others who were gathered at the “25-foot” point and said that this was his crime scene, and that everyone had to move back another 25 feet.
The officer reportedly threatened those on the corner, including Nicodemus, would go to jail if they did not move back another 25 feet, stating there was a “new law," according to the ACLU.
On Friday, the ACLU reiterated their disappointment in the ruling.
“With this ruling, police officers will continue to have unchecked authority to prohibit citizens from approaching within 25-feet of the officers to observe their actions, even if the actions of the citizens are not, and will not, interfere with the police," Falk said.
The ACLU said they plan to appeal the decision.
