A new Tennessee “buffer law” could hamper journalists trying to cover the deployment of a federal law enforcement task force to Memphis. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Arguments about the First Amendment, which, to many, is the most sacrosanct of the articles in the U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights, are a constant in American democracy.
Witness how Tennessee’s new buffer zone law demanding journalists stay 25 feet from law enforcement could trip up reporters in Memphis trying to document federal forces— including agents from I mmigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, U.S. Marshals and Drug Enforcement Administration plus an extra 300 Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers and members of the Tennessee National Guard — occupying the majority Black city by the hundreds…