July 6, 2016 (NEW YORK) – Proskauer is serving as co-counsel with the Legal Aid Society in the filing of a federal lawsuit on behalf of Ruben An in a timely case that seeks to establish that the video recording of police is protected by the First Amendment, an issue that has not been addressed by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Mr. An was arrested on July 28, 2014 in Lower Manhattan for allegedly obstructing governmental administration when, as demonstrated by surveillance video from a nearby building, he was actually arrested in retaliation for recording officers on his phone. After fighting his charges in criminal court for a full year, a jury returned a not-guilty verdict on all counts.

The lawsuit filed today against the City of New York in the Southern District of New York alleges that the NYPD has maintained a widespread practice and custom of permitting NYPD officers to interfere with the First Amendment rights of individuals who, without interfering with police activity, record or attempt to record such activity in public places.

Mr. An seeks a declaration from the court that he has a right to record public police activity under the First Amendment and that the officers' actions in this case violated that right. He also seeks an injunction against the NYPD from continuing to retaliate against New Yorkers for recording public police conduct. In order to ensure the court reaches the key First Amendment issue presented, Mr. An is not seeking damages.

The Proskauer team on this case include partners Chuck Sims and William Silverman, and associates Sarah Sullivan and Patrick Rieder.