August 2011 - First District Court tells the people of Boston - it is your job to police the police.
First Circuit Upholds Right To Videotape Arresting Officers - Law Blog - WSJ
“Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest,” the First Circuit held.
The First Amendment lives. U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston says there is nothing illegal about shooting video of police doing their jobs. | STATter911.com
(The case is pretty simple actually - Glik says he has a right to videotape the police to keep them in line - the police say you are cramping our style - the Court ruled that Glik was the winner)
Here are some interesting quotes from the Court decision
The First Amendment goes beyond protection of the press, and the self expression of individuals, to prohibit government from limiting the stock of information from which members of the public may draw
"there is an undoubted right to gather news 'from any source by means within the law' "
Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting "the free discussion of
governmental affairs"
"News" helps in "uncovering abuses" and has a "salutary effect on the functioning of government"
The First Amendment right to gather news is, as the Court has often noted, not one that inures solely to the benefit of the news media; rather, the public's right of access to information is coextensive with that of the press
The right to videotape police and government officials " is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment
Fire Service Court Radio | Fire Law - 3 fire service lawyers talk about the issue of filming emergency scenes