Contacts:
Lynn Walsh, SPJ National President, 614-579-7937, Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com
Rachel Semple, SPJ Communications Coordinator, 317-920-4785, rsemple@spj.org

INDIANAPOLIS – As a free press and free speech advocate, SPJ’s Legal Defense Fund Committee initiates and joins court briefs to support First Amendment and open records cases.

The following are amicus briefs and other action the LDF Committee took in December

Buehler v. City of Austin
SPJ joins the National Press Photographers Association and other media organizations in the support of Antonio Buehler. Buehler was arrested in 2012 for recording the activities of police officers conducting a DUI stop and the charges were later acquitted. In 2014, he sued the Austin Police Department for false arrest, which was dismissed by the Fifth Circuit court. SPJ and other organizations are supporting his petition to the Supreme Court to review that decision, urging it to consider whether his arrest was a retaliation against his recording, an activity protected by the First Amendment.

Read the full brief here.

SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to informing citizens; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and fights to protect First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. The First Amendment also guarantees the press and the public a right of access to criminal trials, including pretrial proceedings, and documents submitted in connection with them.

The LDF Committee also oversees the Legal Defense Fund, a unique account that can be used to provide journalists with legal or direct financial assistance.

SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to informing citizens; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and fights to protect First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. Support excellent journalism and fight for your right to know. Become a member, give to the Legal Defense Fund, or give to the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation.