Protest and Free Speech

Your rights

• Your rights are strongest in what are known as “traditional public forums,” such as streets, sidewalks, and parks. You also likely have the right to speak out on other public property, like plazas in front of government buildings, as long as you are not blocking access to the government building or interfering with other purposes the property was designed for.

• Private property owners can set rules for speech on their property. The government may not restrict your speech if it is taking place on your own property or with the consent of the property owner.

• Counterprotesters also have free speech rights. Police must treat protesters and counterprotesters equally. Police are permitted to keep antagonistic groups separated but should allow them to be within sight and sound of one another.

• When you are lawfully present in any public space, you have the right to photograph anything in plain view, including federal buildings and the police. On private property, the owner may set rules related to photography or video.

Do I need a permit to organize a protest?

• You don’t need a permit to march in the streets or on sidewalks, as long as marchers don’t obstruct car or pedestrian traffic. If you don't have a permit, police officers can ask you to move to the side of a street or sidewalk to let others pass or for safety reasons.

• Certain types of events may require permits. These include a march or parade that requires blocking traffic or street closure; a large rally requiring the use of sound amplifying devices; or a rally over a certain size at most parks or plazas.

• While certain permit procedures require submitting an application well in advance of the planned event, police can’t use those procedures to prevent a protest in response to breaking news events.

• Restrictions on the route of a march or sound equipment might violate the First Amendment if they are unnecessary for traffic control or public safety, or if they interfere significantly with effective communication to the intended audience.

• A permit cannot be denied because the event is controversial or will express unpopular views.

• If the permit regulations that apply to your protest require a fee for a permit, they should allow a waiver for those who cannot afford the charge.

What happens if the police issue an order to disperse the protest?

• Shutting down a protest through a dispersal order must be law enforcement’s last resort. Police may not disperse a protest unless there is a clear danger of a riot, disorder, interference with traffic, or other immediate threat to public safety.

• If officers issue an order to disperse, they must give reasonable opportunity to comply, including sufficient time and a clear exit path.

• Individuals must receive a clear and detailed notice of a dispersal order, including how much time they have to disperse, consequences for failing to disperse, and what exit route they can follow before they may be arrested or charged with any crime.

Your rights

• When you are lawfully present in any public space, you have the right to photograph anything in plain view, including federal buildings and the police. (On private property, the owner may set rules about photography or video.)

• Police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your photographs or video without a warrant, nor may they delete data under any circumstances. However, they may order citizens to cease activities that are truly interfering with legitimate law enforcement operations.

• If you are videotaping, be aware that there is an important legal distinction between a visual photographic record (fully protected) and the audio portion of a videotape, which some states have tried to regulate under state wiretapping laws. Arizona is a "one-party consent" state, meaning that you are entitled to record a conversation if you are part of that conversation, without the other party's permission.

What to do if you are stopped or detained for taking photographs

• Always remain calm and never physically resist a police officer.

• Police cannot detain you without reasonable suspicion that you have or are about to commit a crime or are in the process of doing so.

• If you are stopped, ask the officer if you are free to leave. If the answer is yes, calmly walk away.

• If you are detained, ask the officer what crime you are suspected of committing, and remind the officer that taking photographs is your right under the First Amendment and does not constitute reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

• Police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your photos or video without a warrant, nor may they delete data under any circumstances.

Question: does Arizona ban recording within an eight-foot distance of law enforcement?
Answer: No. A law was passed by the Arizona Legislature in 2022 that would have made it a crime to record police officers under certain circumstances. The ACLU sued to stop the unconstitutional ban from taking effect. The law was permanently blocked under settlement agreement that was reached with Attorney General Mayes in 2023. Your right to film law enforcement is protected by the First Amendment.

Your rights

• Stay calm. Make sure to keep your hands visible. Don't argue, resist, or obstruct the police, even if you believe they are violating your rights. Point out that you are not disrupting anyone else's activity and that the First Amendment protects your actions.

• Ask if you are free to leave. If the officer says yes, calmly walk away.

• If you are under arrest, you have a right to ask why (but police don’t have to tell you why). Otherwise, say you wish to remain silent and ask for a lawyer immediately. Don't say anything or sign anything without a lawyer. In Arizona, you must provide your legal name if you are detained, but do not offer any other information.

• You have the right to make a local phone call, and if you're calling your lawyer, police are not allowed to listen.

• You never have to consent to a search of yourself or your belongings. If you do explicitly consent, it can affect you later in court.

• Police may "pat down" your clothing if they suspect you have a weapon and may search you and your immediate belongings after an arrest. If you are arrested while driving a car, they will also search the car.

• Police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your photographs or video without a warrant, nor may they delete data under any circumstances. However, they may order people to cease activities that are truly interfering with legitimate law enforcement operations.

What to do if you believe your rights have been violated

• When you can, write down everything you remember, including the officers' badge and patrol car numbers and the agency they work for.

• Get contact information for witnesses.

• Take photographs of any injuries.

• Once you have all of this information, you can file a written complaint with the agency's internal affairs division or civilian complaint board.

• Students can generally organize peaceful protests at lunch, before school, or after school.

• Regular school attendance by a student of school age is required by state law and the administration can take corrective action against a student for missing school. An unexcused or unauthorized absence for missing school to attend a political protest is considered truancy. (Truancy is the unexcused absence from school, including any unauthorized absence from class, study hall, or mandatory activity during the school day.)

• School officials cannot punish you for missing school to participate in a political protest more harshly than they punish students for missing school for any other purpose.

• School officials cannot censor something a student says or writes because they believe that it is in bad taste or expresses a political point against school policy.

• School officials can regulate on-campus speech that is disruptive, vulgar or obscene, slanderous or libelous; that advertises or promotes alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs; or that incites violence.

• School officials can limit student free speech rights to maintain appropriate discipline, as long as the restrictions are equally applied to everyone and don’t vary depending on the subject of the protest or the particular views of the students.