Appeals court upholds block on Indiana’s 2023 police ‘buffer law’

CHICAGO (WISH) — The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has upheld a preliminary injunction against Indiana’s 2023 “buffer law,” which restricts people from approaching within 25 feet of a police officer engaged in official duties after being told to stop approaching.

The 21-page decision issued Tuesday affirms the September ruling from an Indianapolis-based U.S. district court judge that the buffer law is unconstitutionally vague, potentially leading to arbitrary enforcement by law enforcement officers.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and several media organizations challenged the law, arguing it infringes on their ability to gather news.

A lawyer for the reporters’ committee, Grayson Clary, said in a statement, ““This ruling is a significant win for journalists in Indiana, who deserve to be able to cover law enforcement without fear of arrest. These buffer zone laws jeopardize reporters’ ability to bring their communities some of the news that matters most, and it’s critical that federal courts continue to block states from enforcing them.”

The reporters’ committee also challenged the law as unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause.

Judge Doris Pryor with the appeal court wrote, ““The Fourteenth Amendment will not tolerate a law subjecting pedestrians to arrest merely because a police officer had a bad breakfast — no matter how bitter the coffee or how soggy the scrambled eggs.”

Prior also wrote about concerns that the law’s vagueness offers law enforcement no guidance on when to order someone to stay back. “Without such guidance, any on-duty officer can use the buffer law to subject any pedestrian to potential criminal liability by simply ordering them not to approach, even if the pedestrian is doing nothing more than taking a morning stroll or merely walking up to an officer to ask for directions.”

Indiana’s buffer law, officially titled “Unlawful Encroachment on an Investigation,” took effect on July 1, 2023, when signed into law by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.

The district court continued the preliminary injunction against the law’s enforcement. The court found that, at trial, the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their vagueness claim, and would suffer irreparable harm to their newsgathering activities without the injunction.

During the appeal, the Indiana Attorney General’s Office had argued that the buffer law was not vague and that the reporters’ committee lacked standing.

However, the 7th Circuit found that the plaintiffs had demonstrated a sufficient injury in fact, as the law’s chilling effect on journalists’ activities constituted harm.

The 7th Circuit also noted that a second buffer law was enacted in 2025 when signed by Republican Gov. Mike Braun. It requires officers to reasonably believe that a person’s presence would interfere with their duties before ordering them to stop approaching. Despite this, the appeal was not considered moot, as the 2023 law remained in effect.

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