JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Your First Amendment rights are in question because a judge is worried about the actions of the man behind the camera in a video posted on YouTube.
The video was taken on May 29 outside the Duval County Courthouse, where a man interrupted a news conference by the state attorney.
Thursday, the chief judge said because of similar incidents, he's putting new restrictions on what everyone can say on courthouse grounds. The judge compared demonstrations to yelling “fire” in a crowded theater.
In the video taken by Michale Hoffman on May 29, officers asked him to leave the front steps after interrupting a news conference and saying judges were corrupt.
“You don't need a press pass to stand on public property,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman said he is a correspondent for the group Photography Is Not a Crime, a group that records video at public buildings across the country.
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“Is there a better way, better tactic?” Action News asked.
“You know, there is,” Hoffman said.
After that incident and another on the previous day, Chief Judge Mark Mahon issued an order limiting what anyone can say and distribute on courthouse grounds.
Action News Law and Safety expert Dale Carson says the judge's order is over-reaching.
“Is it constitutional?” Action News asked.
“That's a good question. It doesn't matter. It's an order of the court,” Carson said.
A map shows what the order deems as courthouse grounds, meaning off-limits for anyone who wants to say something or distribute material that could "degrade or call into question the integrity of the court or any of its judges."
That includes claiming judges are corrupt, biased or dishonest, like Hoffman is accused of doing.
“If we don't hold him accountable for action, we're no longer a free nation,” Hoffman said.
The chief judge's order does say these new rules will not change current courthouse policies for peaceful demonstrations.
But Carson says that's also a subjective call now in the hands of the court.
“I think they have gotten too much power. It's at their discretion to determine whether the behavior of an individual or group is somehow demeaning,” Carson said.
WJAX
