Nov. 21 Conference Set on Injunction to Block Ind. Newsgathering Law

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mario Garcia for Southern Indiana in Indianapolis set a Nov. 21 status conference at 3:30 p.m. EST in the lawsuit brought by seven plaintiffs against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R), said Garcia’s signed scheduling order Wednesday (docket 1:23-cv-01805). The purpose of the conference is to discuss the plaintiffs' Nov. 3 motion for a preliminary injunction to block Rokita 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 (see 2311060046). The plaintiffs are the Indiana Broadcasters Association, the Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Indianapolis Star, Nexstar, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Scripps and Tegna. They allege that HB-1186 violates the First and 14th Amendments “on its face,” and as applied to the plaintiffs’ “peaceful, nonobstructive newsgathering in public places.”