01-28-2021, 05:33 PM
vision63 wrote:
They need to be credentialed to go beyond police lines etc. Otherwise, anybody can call themselves a journalist and say, walk all over a murder scene for example.
I worked for 30 years as a journalist and never received credentials from any government agency (I received press passes, but those were issued based upon my newspaper's issued credential). Even then, it was up to the police whether we were allowed past the lines established for the general public. However, SCOTUS has determined that the press has the right to be where the general public is allowed. That is one reason campaign events became ticketed - the organizers can then claim it was not open to the general public and therefore control media access.
All I know of this situation is from the information given, but the police have likely opened themselves up to a lawsuit for violation of constitutional rights. That usually results in a hefty fine which is then donated to a civil rights group.