The Arizona House Appropriations Committee on Monday green-lit a bill that would criminalize filming cops on the job in some cases, reinvigorating questions around the constitutionality of such provisions.
If passed into law, House Bill 2319* would make it illegal "for a person to knowingly make a video recording of law enforcement activity, including the handling of an emotionally disturbed person, if the person does not have the permission of the law enforcement officer" and is within 8 feet of the cop. The original text stipulated that it would be a crime to do so within 15 feet, but Rep. John Kavanagh (R–D23), the bill's sponsor, altered the radius in an amendment meant to assuage constitutional objections.
