Amy Goodman Is Free --- But the First Amendment Is Still Under Siege in North Dakota

In September, Goodman and her crew captured footage of pipeline-company security guards using pepper spray and attack dogs on peaceful indigenous protesters. Members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe have been rallying for months against the pipeline’s construction on sacred sites and burial grounds.

Shortly after Democracy Now! broadcast the footage, North Dakota’s Morton County issued an arrest warrant for Goodman on the charge of trespassing — a charge later changed to “riot.” Others exercising their First Amendment rights were arrested for covering or participating in the demonstrations.

Hours before Goodman’s case was heard, Free Press delivered close to 25,000 petitions urging the Morton County State’s Attorney office to drop the charges against Goodman and others chronicling the protests. After District Judge John Grinsteiner found no probable cause for the charges against Goodman, she addressed supporters outside the courthouse.

“Standing up for freedom of the press goes beyond journalism,” Goodman said. “Freedom of the press is about the public’s right to know. That right to know is sacred. That’s what makes a democracy meaningful, when you are able to make informed decisions.”

Unfortunately, others covering or participating in the pipeline protests are still facing charges, including Rebecca Kemble, a city council member from Madison, Wisconsin; documentary filmmaker Deia Schlosberg; four Unicorn Riot journalists; and many indigenous activists.

“Prosecutors may claim that they are just trying to maintain order,” John Nichols wrote in The Nation. “But their thinking, and their approach, is at odds with our understanding of the First Amendment as the vital underpinning of democracy.”

Similar law-and-order concerns — or rationalizations — have prompted police in cities around the country to intimidate, harass and arrest journalists documenting protests and other public actions. In an era in which anyone with a smartphone can commit acts of journalism, it’s essential to protect everyone’s First Amendment rights.