Free Speech

Eugene Volokh | 11.9.2024 3:32 PM

From Judge Terrence Berg's opinion on Election Day in ACLU of Mich. v. Does 1-6:

The ACLU asserts that Defendants are actively engaged in activities to threaten, intimidate, harass, and deter voters from participating in the 2024 election. The ACLU submitted four affidavits from Michigan residents in support….

Raimi served as a poll watcher on Election Day in four different locations. At the polling location in Derby Middle School, Birmingham, Raimi saw three men with cameras who had been filming people going into and out of the polling station. One of them was wearing a baseball cap that said "DON'T ANNOY ME, I'M AN ASSHOLE. MY RIGHTS DON'T STOP WHERE YOUR FEELINGS START." The other two were described as wearing "patriotic" shirts. Raimi told them they could not film people coming in and out of a polling location, but they responded that it was their First Amendment right to film.

Other people passing out flyers near the polling station told Raimi that the three men had blocked a family from leaving the polling station, despite the family asking them not to record them. At the polling station at Oakland Schools Technical Campus Southeast, in Royal Oak, Michigan, Raimi saw one of the same three men who had been filming. The man was now wearing a gaiter that covered his nose and mouth and was accompanied by three other individuals who appeared intimidating to Raimi. Raimi indicated the individuals had cameras and were filming the polling location.

The precinct supervisor instructed the men not to film but they once again stated that it was their First Amendment right to record. Raimi told them not to film as well but was met with the same response. The police arrived, and the individuals left 10 to 15 minutes later, though two of them continued filming the movements of the police as they departed. Raimi believes the individuals were part of an organized effort to invite negative responses or anger from poll workers and voters and to capture these responses on video.........

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