On Monday, the Los Angeles Press Club (LAPC) and investigative reporting network Status Coup filed a federal lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department for violating journalists’ rights under the U.S. Constitution and state law.
“With today’s lawsuit, the L.A. Press Club is fighting for the rights of all of its nearly 1,000 members to report the news without risking their health and safety,” said Adam Rose, press rights chair of LAPC, a nonprofit organization that supports journalists in Southern California.
Monday’s lawsuit seeks to "protect the rights of the press under the First Amendment and California state law, including Senate Bill 98, which specifically prohibits law enforcement from assaulting the press to obstruct reporting, and Assembly Bill 48, which limits the use of kinetic energy projectiles and chemical agents to disperse protests."
"LAPD actions during the June 2025 protests in downtown Los Angeles reveal a brazen refusal to abide by the Constitution and state law and repeats the same conduct by the Defendant City repeatedly held to be unconstitutional by the federal courts for the past 25 years. This action seeks judicial assistance once again to force the LAPD to respect the constitutional and statutory rights of journalists engaged in reporting on these protests and inevitable protests to come," states the lawsuit.
The lawsuit goes on to detail the long history of the LAPD targeting journalists during protests and other events. It also lists at least eight instances in which journalists were targeted by police with less-lethal munitions during the recent immigration actions and arrests.
“With today’s lawsuit, the L.A. Press Club is fighting for the rights of all of its nearly 1,000 members to report the news without risking their health and safety,” said Adam Rose, press rights chair of LAPC, a nonprofit organization that supports journalists in Southern California.
The groups are represented by Carol Sobel and Weston Rowland of the Law Office of Carol Sobel; Susan Seager; the Law Office of Peter Bibring; the firm of Schonbrun, Seplow, Harris, Hoffman & Zeldes LLP; and the First Amendment Coalition.
“Our democracy depends on an informed public. When press rights are threatened, it’s the public that suffers,” said Carol Sobel, lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
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