L.A. Times, media coalition oppose L.A. lawsuit to claw back police photos from journalist

The city of Los Angeles has sued a local journalist and an activist group after officials accidentally released photos of undercover officers through a public records request. “Granting the City’s request would encourage future lawsuits of this kind,” the group wrote, “chilling the dissemination of important information in records obtained through public records requests, and undercutting the vital role of journalists in our society.” The coalition asked the court to reject the city’s efforts to claw back the photographs, which have already been widely disseminated online. It has previously said its goal in filing the lawsuit was to protect officers “whose lives and families’ lives could be in grave danger as a result of this exposure.” Camacho, a Knock LA photo editor, said in a statement that the media coalition’s support was “essential” to combat “a shameful attempt at unconstitutional censorship and an example of elected officials relinquishing their leadership.” Hamid Khan, lead coordinator of Stop LAPD Spying, said he appreciated “the journalist community coming out strong in support of us, defending our right — our 1st Amendment right — to speech.” The case is not just about police records being available to the public but about “the whole idea of public records” in general, Khan said. “It could end up with a real chilling effect on important journalism if the city could go out and just seek to claw back records that have already been provided to a journalist.” Mayor Karen Bass has previously declined to weigh in on the lawsuit, though she has denounced the release of the officers’ pictures — as has LAPD Chief Michel Moore. “Many courts have recognized that you cannot force the press and public to return previously disclosed government records,” he said, “even where the records were disclosed by mistake.” Matt Pearce, a Times reporter and president of Media Guild of the West — which represents unionized journalists at The Times, the Southern California News Group and other newsrooms — called the city’s lawsuit “a disturbing abuse of the 1st Amendment and the Constitution of California,” and one that “deserves to be opposed.”