FR ANK LOMONTEDIR ECTOR , THE BR ECHNER CENTER FOR

FR EEDOM OF INFOR MATIONUNIVER SITY OF FLOR IDA

WWW. BR ECHNER . OR GFLOMONTE@UFL. EDU

2019 CHR ISTOPHER J. GEOR GES CONFER ENCE ON COLLEGE JOUR NALISM

THE NIEM AN FOUNDATION AT HAR VAR D

The Legal Rights of College Journalists

Your right to photograph…

� It’s not an invasion of privacy to take pictures of people in public

� And that includes kids� And that includes

posting images online� And that includes

medical emergencies BUT…• There’s no “right to break the law” to get a shot• You can still be cited for trespassing, defying a lawful police

order, obstructing traffic

The First Amendment to the rescue

Rulings in five regions now say the First Amendment clearly protects the right to photograph police doing business in public

• Glik v. Cunniffe (1st Cir. 2011)• Fields v. City of Philadelphia (3d

Cir. 2017)• Turner v. Driver (5th Cir. 2017)• ACLU v. Alvarez (7th Cir. 2012)• Smith v. City of Cumming (11th

Cir. 2000)

Images cannot be searched, seized or destroyed

� The federal Privacy Protection Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000aa, makes it illegal for government officials to search anywhere that journalists store their unpublished work product

It’s a violation of the First Amendment for police to destroy photos/videos or make photojournalists destroy them…• April 2014: City of

Baltimore pays $250k for erasing citizen cellphone video of a police beating

• March 2015: Defense Department pays $18k to Toledo Blade for confiscating and deleting photos

Broad ”gag orders” on employees are illegal

At a STATE college, forbidding all employees from giving interviews violates the First Amendment

At a PRIVATE college (*except some primarily religious ones), forbidding all employees from giving interviews violates the National Labor Relations Act

FERPA privacy does NOT cover…

ü “records maintained by a law enforcement unit of the educational agency or institution that were created by that law enforcement unit for the purpose of law enforcement”

ü “the final results of any disciplinary proceeding conducted by such institution against a student who is an alleged perpetrator of any crime of violence … or a nonforcible sex offense, if the institution determines as a result of that disciplinary proceeding that the student committed a violation of the institution’s rules or policies with respect to such crime or offense.”

(1) The IRS Form 990

� All nonprofit corporations file annual tax returns showing:¡ How much spent and raised¡ How investments perform¡ Major spending categories

� How can you use it?¡ Highest salaried officials¡ Insider contracts with board members¡ Disclosure of “significant events”¡ Other hidden gems (overseas spending, etc.)

(2) Clery Act crime logs & stats

� The daily log¡ “What/where/when”¡ Must be updated within 48 hours¡ Must keep 15 days on hand ¡ Right to inspect is immediate

� The annual report¡ Filed every October 1¡ All serious crimes/hate crimes¡ Include reports to local police¡ Include reports to “campus security authorities”

5 things to know aboutthe Clery Act

üCampus must get timely/immediate notice of known dangers to safety

üDaily crime logs must have 60 days’ worth of crimes, be updated every 48 hours

üAnnual statistical report of serious crimes, discipline gets filed every Oct. 1

üThe figures are almost always wrongüWhen they’re wrong, they’re never too high

(3) Athletics Records

� Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act¡ Department of Education online “cutting tool”¡ What are coaches paid?¡ What is spent on men’s/women’s sports?¡ Do sports make/lose money?

Reveal News/Center for Investigative Reporting found rosters of women’s teams padded with players who’d tried out a single time, played briefly on the practice squad – or are men

How can SPLC help you?

� Online legal guides at splc.org� Library of key state statutes and cases� Free attorney hotline, 202-785-5450 or

splc@splc.org