{
  "id": 90,
  "slug": "2023-arizona-police-recording-law-struck-down",
  "title": "Federal court strikes down Arizona's law banning recording police within 8 feet",
  "occurred_on": "2023-07-21",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "US-AZ",
  "country": "US",
  "continent": "north-america",
  "level": "state_or_province",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "access_ban",
  "leader_slug": "doug-ducey",
  "issue_of_the_day": "The bill's sponsor said it responded to concerns that groups he described as antagonistic toward police followed officers around filming encounters and came dangerously close during potentially violent incidents.",
  "outcome": "reversed",
  "outcome_on": "2023-07-21",
  "outcome_note": "A federal judge permanently enjoined enforcement of the law, and Arizona's attorney general did not appeal.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "Arizona's 2022 law making it a crime to record police within eight feet after a warning was struck down by a federal judge in July 2023, who found it chilled a substantial amount of activity protected by the First Amendment and was not necessary given other laws already protecting officers.{c:349}",
  "what_happened": "In 2022, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2319, making it a class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by up to thirty days in jail, to knowingly video record police activity from within eight feet after an officer warned the person to stop. News organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union sued, arguing the law would prevent journalists and bystanders from documenting police conduct, including alleged misconduct, from a normal filming distance. On July 21, 2023, U.S. District Judge John Tuchi permanently enjoined enforcement of the law, ruling it restricted a substantial amount of activity protected by the First Amendment without being necessary, since Arizona already had laws against physically interfering with police. Arizona's attorney general did not appeal, and the parties later entered a stipulated permanent injunction confirming the law could not be enforced.{c:348}{c:349}{c:350}{c:351}",
  "stated_justification": "The bill's Republican sponsor, State Representative John Kavanagh, said the law responded to groups he considered opposed to police that followed officers to film encounters and came dangerously close to potentially violent incidents.{c:348}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Journalists and bystanders in Arizona had faced criminal liability for filming police from a normal reporting distance for more than a year before the law was enjoined.{c:350}",
  "unknowns": null,
  "status": "reversed",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T23:11:04Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 5,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:10:58Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T00:09:52Z",
  "stage": "restrict",
  "ladder_note": null,
  "country_name": "United States",
  "tactics": [
    "access_ban"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "doug-ducey",
    "name": "Doug Ducey",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/doug-ducey"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-arizona-police-recording-law-struck-down",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T23:11:04Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "reversed",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": null
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "arizona-legislature",
      "name": "Arizona Legislature",
      "kind": "body",
      "role": "legislated",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/arizona-legislature"
    },
    {
      "slug": "doug-ducey",
      "name": "Doug Ducey",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/doug-ducey"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 348,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 90,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Bill responds to groups following police to film encounters",
      "statement": "The bill's sponsor said the law addressed groups he considered antagonistic to police that filmed from dangerously close distances.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 267,
      "evidence_quote": "because there are groups hostile to the police that follow them around to videotape police incidents, and they get dangerously close to potentially violent encounters.",
      "evidence_date": "2023-07-24",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:10:59Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 267,
        "url": "https://reason.com/2023/07/24/federal-judge-strikes-down-arizona-law-limiting-ability-to-record-police/",
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        "title": "Federal Judge Strikes Down Arizona Law Limiting Ability to Record Police",
        "publisher": "Reason",
        "published_on": "2023-07-24",
        "link_state": "live",
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    {
      "id": 349,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 90,
      "field": "occurred_on",
      "value": "2023-07-21",
      "statement": "The court found the law restricted a substantial amount of protected activity without being necessary.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 267,
      "evidence_quote": "prohibits or chills a substantial amount of First Amendment protected activity and is unnecessary to prevent interference with police officers given other Arizona laws in effect.",
      "evidence_date": "2023-07-24",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
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      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
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        "title": "Federal Judge Strikes Down Arizona Law Limiting Ability to Record Police",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/349"
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    {
      "id": 350,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 90,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Court affirms a right to record police",
      "statement": "The court found there is a clearly established right to record officers performing their duties in public.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 266,
      "evidence_quote": "there is a clearly established right to record law enforcement officers engaged in the exercise of their official duties in public places",
      "evidence_date": "2023-08-01",
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      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
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        "title": "Federal Judge Upholds Arizonans' Right to Record the Police",
        "publisher": "Electronic Frontier Foundation",
        "published_on": "2023-08-01",
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      "id": 351,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 90,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "Statute did not survive strict scrutiny",
      "statement": "The court found the statute was not narrowly tailored to a necessary purpose.",
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        "title": "Federal Judge Upholds Arizonans' Right to Record the Police",
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      "title": "Federal Judge Upholds Arizonans' Right to Record the Police",
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      "url": "https://reason.com/2023/07/24/federal-judge-strikes-down-arizona-law-limiting-ability-to-record-police/",
      "final_url": "https://reason.com/2023/07/24/federal-judge-strikes-down-arizona-law-limiting-ability-to-record-police/",
      "title": "Federal Judge Strikes Down Arizona Law Limiting Ability to Record Police",
      "publisher": "Reason",
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  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-arizona-police-recording-law-struck-down/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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  "cite_as": "Federal court strikes down Arizona's law banning recording police within 8 feet. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-arizona-police-recording-law-struck-down. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}