{
  "id": 15,
  "slug": "2025-federal-judge-blocks-louisiana-buffer-law",
  "title": "United States (Louisiana): Federal court order blocking enforcement of the police buffer zone law, January 2025",
  "occurred_on": "2025-01-31",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "US-LA",
  "country": "US",
  "continent": "north-america",
  "level": "state_or_province",
  "type": "lawsuit_against_press",
  "tactic_primary": "access_ban",
  "leader_slug": "jeff-landry",
  "issue_of_the_day": null,
  "outcome": "ongoing",
  "outcome_on": "2025-01-31",
  "outcome_note": "Preliminary injunction granted 2025-01-31; Louisiana's appeal was reported pending as of mid-2026.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "On January 31, 2025, Judge John W. deGravelles of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, a federal trial court, blocked enforcement of the state's 25-foot (7.6-metre) police buffer zone law with a preliminary injunction, an order that keeps the situation as it is while a case is decided. He wrote that \"the distance required is likely to impede Plaintiffs' non-obstructive newsgathering\" and that \"the Act has a chilling effect on Plaintiffs' First Amendment rights.\" The plaintiffs included journalists and civil rights observers. Louisiana was reported to be appealing the order.{c:52}",
  "what_happened": "On January 31, 2025, Judge John W. deGravelles of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana blocked enforcement of the state's 25-foot police buffer zone law. He ruled that the plaintiffs, including journalists and civil rights observers, were likely to succeed on their claim that the distance requirement would impede newsgathering that does not obstruct police, in breach of the First Amendment, the part of the United States Constitution that protects freedom of speech and of the press.{c:52}{c:53}{c:54}\n\nThe challenge argued that the law made routine filming of police from a normal observing distance a crime and gave officers broad discretion to order bystanders back whether or not they were interfering. Louisiana defended the law as an officer-safety measure and was reported to be appealing the injunction to the Fifth Circuit, the federal appeals court based in New Orleans.{c:52}{c:53}{c:54}\n\nStatus as of 2026-09-22: Suspended by court order. The injunction remains in place while the case is pending; Louisiana's appeal was reported pending as of mid-2026.{c:54}",
  "stated_justification": "Louisiana defended the law in court as an officer-safety measure.{c:52}{c:53}{c:54}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "While the injunction is in place, journalists and the public in Louisiana may film police from ordinary distances.{c:53}",
  "unknowns": "No ruling on Louisiana's appeal appears in the sources cited (as of 2026-09-22).",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:29Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 23,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:24Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-22T22:30:49Z",
  "country_name": "United States",
  "tactics": [
    "access_ban"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "jeff-landry",
    "name": "Jeff Landry",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/jeff-landry"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-federal-judge-blocks-louisiana-buffer-law",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T20:41:29Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "No ruling on Louisiana's appeal appears in the sources cited (as of 2026-09-22)."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "john-w-degravelles",
      "name": "John W. deGravelles",
      "kind": "body",
      "role": "ruled",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/john-w-degravelles"
    },
    {
      "slug": "louisiana-legislature",
      "name": "Louisiana Legislature",
      "kind": "body",
      "role": "defended",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/louisiana-legislature"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 52,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 15,
      "field": "occurred_on",
      "value": "2025-01-31",
      "statement": "Judge deGravelles issued the order blocking enforcement of the buffer-zone law.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 78,
      "evidence_quote": "The preliminary injunction will be effective while the case is pending.",
      "evidence_date": "2025-01-31",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:26Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 78,
        "url": "https://lailluminator.com/2025/01/31/buffer-zone/",
        "final_url": "https://lailluminator.com/2025/01/31/buffer-zone/",
        "title": "Judge blocks enforcement of Louisiana's 25-foot buffer zone for police",
        "publisher": "Louisiana Illuminator",
        "published_on": "2025-01-31",
        "link_state": "bot_blocked",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/52"
    },
    {
      "id": 53,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 15,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Buffer-zone law enforcement blocked",
      "statement": "Journalists and the public may film police from ordinary distances while the injunction remains in place.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 38,
      "evidence_quote": "The distance required is likely to impede Plaintiffs' non-obstructive newsgathering. … Therefore, the Act has a chilling effect on Plaintiffs' First Amendment rights.",
      "evidence_date": "2025-01-31",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:27Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 38,
        "url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-blocks-enforcement-louisiana-25-225735750.html",
        "final_url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/judge-blocks-enforcement-louisiana-25-225735750.html",
        "title": "Judge blocks enforcement of Louisiana's 25-foot buffer zone for police",
        "publisher": "Yahoo News / AP",
        "published_on": "2025-01-31",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
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      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/53"
    },
    {
      "id": 54,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 15,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "Injunction in effect; appeal pending",
      "statement": "The block on enforcement remained in place while Louisiana pursued an appeal.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 78,
      "evidence_quote": "The preliminary injunction will be effective while the case is pending.",
      "evidence_date": "2025-01-31",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:41:27Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 78,
        "url": "https://lailluminator.com/2025/01/31/buffer-zone/",
        "final_url": "https://lailluminator.com/2025/01/31/buffer-zone/",
        "title": "Judge blocks enforcement of Louisiana's 25-foot buffer zone for police",
        "publisher": "Louisiana Illuminator",
        "published_on": "2025-01-31",
        "link_state": "bot_blocked",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/54"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 38,
      "url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-blocks-enforcement-louisiana-25-225735750.html",
      "final_url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/judge-blocks-enforcement-louisiana-25-225735750.html",
      "title": "Judge blocks enforcement of Louisiana's 25-foot buffer zone for police",
      "publisher": "Yahoo News / AP",
      "published_on": "2025-01-31",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    },
    {
      "id": 78,
      "url": "https://lailluminator.com/2025/01/31/buffer-zone/",
      "final_url": "https://lailluminator.com/2025/01/31/buffer-zone/",
      "title": "Judge blocks enforcement of Louisiana's 25-foot buffer zone for police",
      "publisher": "Louisiana Illuminator",
      "published_on": "2025-01-31",
      "link_state": "bot_blocked",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
      "wayback_saved_at": null
    }
  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-federal-judge-blocks-louisiana-buffer-law/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "United States (Louisiana): Federal court order blocking enforcement of the police buffer zone law, January 2025. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-federal-judge-blocks-louisiana-buffer-law. Retrieved 2026-09-22."
}