COVINGTON, Ky. — A group of professors penned an open letter to Kenton County Attorney Stacy Tapke, asking that the misdemeanor charges against two CityBeat journalists be dropped.
The journalists, Madeline Fening and Lucas Griffith, were arrested during a protest on the Roebling Bridge in July.
Organizations who contributed to the letter include the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Greater Cincinnati Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, among others.
Individual signatories include several professors of journalism at the University of Cincinnati, including the department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, Alfred J. Cotton III.
“Lucas Griffith is one of the best student journalists on this campus,” Cotton said. “He’s a former student of mine, and I believe wholeheartedly in his integrity and dedication to pursuing the truth. I stand with the call to drop the charges against him and Madeline Fening.”
“Newsgathering is a protected right under the First Amendment,” said Jenny Wohlfarth, another professor. “What’s at stake here is not just these two reporters’ fates, but also the fundamental Constitutional rights of a free press that are protected for all of us under the First Amendment.”
The letter goes on to cite legal opinions that the signatories argue support charge dismissal, as well as other instances where charges have been dismissed against journalists who have been arrested.
Fening, Griffith and 13 others were arrested after a chaotic encounter with the police on the bridge, which took place after the protest in Cincinnati branched off from a vigil for former Cincinnati Children’s chaplain Ayman Soliman, whom ICE detained following the revocation of his asylum status. Soliman was released from the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio, on Friday.
The journalists had their felony rioting charges dropped, but their lower charges were upheld at a hearing in late July. Since then, the court has also dismissed a charge of unlawful assembly against Fening, according to court documents.
Additionally, the court has dismissed charges of unlawful assembly and resisting arrest against Griffith. This leaves the reporters with misdemeanor charges of failure to disperse, obstructing a highway, obstructing emergency responders and disorderly conduct.
The journalists’ attorneys also made motions to prevent prosecutors from employing certain tactics during the trials, which were granted, according to court documents. LINK nky has reached out to the Kentucky branch of the ACLU, which is representing the journalists in this case, for comment.
Tapke was not immediately available to comment, but another prosecutor involved in the case, Drew Harris, spoke with LINK nky over the phone and later sent an email statement about the letter.
“The First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press, but that right is not unlimited,” Harris writes at the beginning of his email. “Like all citizens, journalists must comply with reasonable time, place and manner restrictions. They do not have the unfettered right to report from any location they choose, particularly when public safety and access are at stake.”
Harris points out that the Committee to Protect Journalists, which is one of the signatories of the letter, “has itself published guidance acknowledging these limits. Its ‘Guide to Legal Rights in the U.S.’ for journalists expressly states that police may order both protestors and reporters to disperse when streets are blocked or safety is compromised, and that journalists should comply with such orders. Their ‘quick tips’ further emphasize that reporters must obey dispersal directives from law enforcement.”
Specifically, the recommendation from the committee reads, “comply with dispersal orders or other directives issued by law enforcement. If engaged in an encounter with law enforcement, explain that you are a journalist covering the event and show your credentials. You may continue to record interactions with law enforcement.”
You can read the Committee to Protect Journalists’ guide in its entirety here.
He also said the prosecutors “have made multiple offers based on our prosecutorial discretion to resolve their respective cases with a dismissal of the charges, upon their stipulation that officers had probable cause for their arrest. Ms. Fening and Mr. Griffith have declined those offers.”
He explained that if the journalists had stated on the record that the police had probable cause to arrest them on the bridge, then the prosecutors would drop the charges, but this would waive their right to bring a civil lawsuit against the officers for a wrongful arrest in the future.
Seth Stern, the advocacy director with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told LINK nky “the fact the police are worried about that prospect [of a lawsuit] is telling.”
“Journalists have every right to cover protests and their aftermath, and when police disperse protestors, it does not mean they can disperse and arrest journalists doing their constitutionally protected jobs,” said Stern. “Otherwise, officers who are up to no good would have every incentive to clear the area of media beforehand.”
Lucas and Fening have a pretrial hearing set for Sept. 25. Fening’s trial is scheduled for the morning of Sept. 30, and Griffith’s trial is scheduled for the morning of Oct. 2.
You can read the full letter below:
Letter to County Attorney Re CityBeat Journalists by webeditors
LINK nky is a media partner of WCPO.com.
