• Arizona's House Bill 2319, makes it illegal for bystanders to record police officers within 8 feet of an arrest. 
  • The bill was drafted after Tuscon officers complained that bystanders were recording them too close. 
  • The bill faced criticism for violating the public first amendment right to record police officers. 

A new Arizona law now requires bystanders filming officers to stand at least eight feet away. 

According to House Bill 2319, which was signed into law Wednesday by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, bystanders who violate the law by recording police officers within 8 feet of activity are faced with a class 3 misdemeanor.

Bystanders who do not comply with the officer's verbal warning and move closer can be faced with a charge of up to $500 and 30 days in jail.

H.B 2319 was introduced this past March and sponsored by Arizona state Rep. John Kavanagh, who addressed critics of his bill in a March op-ed published by USA Today.

In the Op-Ed Kavanagh stated that the original bill had a larger "buffer zone" of 15 feet for police officers but was later amended due to constitutional criticism. The amended 8 feet distance was based on a Supreme Court ruling that eight feet was a reasonable distance for protestors to stand outside abortion clinics, Kavanagh told USA Today.

Kavanagh said the bill was pushed after Tucson officers complained that bystanders videotaped them 1 to 2 feet from behind while making an arrest. Kavanagh added that officers would be put at risk without a buffer zone. 

"Police officers have no way of knowing whether the person approaching is an innocent bystander or an accomplice of the person they're arresting who might assault them," Kavanagh stated in the op-ed. 

Critics are concerned over the bill's constitutionality, stating it violates the First Amendment. Bystander footage has helped hold police officers accountable, particularly in the case of George Floyd. 

 

"By limiting our ability to record police interactions, this law will undoubtedly make it more even more difficult to hold police officers accountable for misconduct," the ACLU of Arizona said in a tweet on Friday.

The law is slated to go into effect in September. 

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