Ohio Cops Decide First Amendment Doesn't Exist, Arrest Newspaper Editor For Committing Journalism [View all]

Tue, Nov 29th 2022 10:42am - Tim Cushing

Ohio cops just can’t seem to get their head around First Amendment protections. A case hopefully en route to a Supreme Court review involves Parma, Ohio cops who decided it was completely legal to arrest a town resident for creating a clearly satirical Facebook page that suggested the Parma PD was offering free abortions in a roaming van and promoting a “pedophile reform” event.

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So, it’s perhaps unsurprising that this state is home to yet another egregious violation of First Amendment rights. An ongoing murder trial involving multiple defendants has resulted in the editor of small local paper being arrested for performing an act of journalism.

As Adam Steinbaugh’s post for FIRE points out, courts permit recordings and broadcasting of criminal trials. There are a few exceptions. The relevant exception here is that witnesses can request their testimony not be recorded or broadcast and, if the court agrees, this permission is revoked during this testimony.

One of the defendants in this trial — Jake Wagner — made this request and had it granted. Nonetheless, someone attending the trial recorded it and passed it on to Derek Myers, who runs the Scioto Valley Guardian. That act of fully protected First Amendment expression led to this: