BATON ROUGE, La. (WGNO) — Gov. Jeff Landry signed House Bill 173 into law, making it a crime to stand within 25 feet of a police officer who has asked or ordered you to get back. Anyone who violates this new law can face up to 60 days in prison or up to a $500 fine.
Some supporters of the new law say that this is just a new way the state can protect its officers.
“This gives the police something beyond just warning people if someone is a persistent threat to the officer or in any way compromising a crime scene,” said New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche.
Some critics, however, say it is simply a way to restrict the public’s ability to observe active scenes.
“At a distance of 25 feet, it’s hard to tell what somebody is saying necessarily, what an officer or a person they are acting with or upon is saying. It might also be unclear what they are doing,” said New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police member Kelly Porter.
In May 2020, a 14-year-old boy named De’shaun Johnson was recording his mother being arrested when a St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy pointed a Taser at him and told him to get back. The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana then filed a civil rights lawsuit against the deputy, and a jury eventually concluded in court that the deputy intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon Johnson during the incident.
The ACLU argues that with the new law, cases like this may have completely different results.
“Why is this law necessary now, and if this law had been in place at the time that this occurred, this poor gentleman could have been convicted of a crime when all he was trying to do was ensure his mother’s safety,” said ACLU Louisiana Policy Strategist Stephanie L. Willis.
Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.