Injunction Sought to Block Ind. Law Restricting Reporters' Access to Police

The Indiana Broadcasters Association, plus Nexstar, Scripps, Tegna and three other co-plaintiffs, seek a preliminary injunction blocking Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) from enforcing HB-1186, the state law that took effect July 1, making it a misdemeanor for journalists to come within 25 feet of police officers on official duty, said their motion Friday (docket 1:23-cv-01805) in U.S. District Court for Southern Indiana in Indianapolis. The plaintiffs, which also include the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Indianapolis Star, sued the state Oct. 6 to challenge HB-1186's constitutionality (see 2310100026). The plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits of their claims that HB-1186 violates the First and 14th Amendments “on its face,” and as applied to the plaintiffs’ “peaceful, nonobstructive newsgathering in public places,” said their motion. They’re “now suffering and will continue to suffer irreparable harm absent a preliminary injunction” due to the loss of their First Amendment freedoms, “for even minimal periods of time,” it said. The balance of equities “favors granting preliminary relief because” injunctions protecting First Amendment freedoms are always in the public interest, it said. The court should issue a preliminary injunction without bond because Rokita and Indiana “will suffer no damages from an injunction against enforcement of an unconstitutional statute,” it said. But requiring the posting of a bond would negatively impact the plaintiffs’ ability “to exercise their First Amendment rights,” it said. The parties propose having Indiana and Rokita answer or otherwise respond to the Oct. 6 complaint by Dec. 1, the same date when the plaintiffs will submit their memorandum of law and accompanying evidence in support of the injunction motion, it said.