Are curfew orders without press exemptions constitutional?
In the wake of widespread protests against police violence and racial injustice, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press published an interactive map tracking curfew orders imposed by cities, counties and states — and whether they included exemptions for the news media.
Since then, the Reporters Committee has been tracking incidents in which journalists have been assaulted or arrested for supposedly violating curfew. A Reporters Committee review of the incidents reveals a troubling trend of law enforcement arresting, detaining, pepper-spraying or tear-gassing journalists who clearly identified themselves as members of the press.
In a special analysis, Linda Moon, the Reporters Committee’s Stanton Foundation National Security Fellow, and Legal Intern Sasha Peters explore the constitutionality of curfew orders that don’t include carve-outs for the press.
“While there are no previous cases in which emergency curfew orders have been challenged for lacking media exemptions,” Moon and Peters write, “related cases suggest that curfew orders that do not contain press exemptions may be unconstitutional under the First Amendment.” Read their special analysis here.
