But it wasn’t just Republicans who voted for the Senate and House versions of this new law. Oklahomans may be used to watching the Republican-controlled legislature pass bills unfriendly to racial justice and equal rights. Republican legislators sailed it through, and there was next to nothing preventing the governor from signing the new legislation into law. “Video is like an extension of our collective eyes and we don’t want our eyes blindfolded.” Alexander said that while it threatens the rights of Oklahomans, she doesn’t expect it to pass.īut both Senate Bill 6 and House Bill 2273 ended up being used as cover for HB 1643, which took on the same language of the two other bills. “If the personally identifiable information specifically excluded name, place of employment, and a photograph we would probably not oppose the bill,” said Cindy Alexander of Indivisible Stillwater Oklahoma, an education and advocacy group. More than one advocacy group has come out against it. It passed the Republican-dominated Senate Public Safety Committee. Senate Bill 6 is a companion bill with the same language. Historically and even recently, video footage has been one of the only reliable ways to hold law-breaking police officers accountable. It would seem obvious that Social Security numbers of any employee should remain private, which makes one wonder what the motivation was for including photos of any personal likeness. At the end of the list, it includes: “a photograph or any other realistic likeness of the person.” Companion bills moving forward in Oklahoma Legislature
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Along with name, birth date, and address, it lists telephone number, driver license number, Social Security number, place of employment, and mother’s maiden name as items that would be banned from being made public by civilians. Notably, what the bill considers “personally identifiable information” mixes in the reasonable with the extreme.
The bill would create a misdemeanor charge for the first violation and a felony for any further violations that “causes, attempts to cause or would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress or financial loss to the law enforcement officer, or to the family, household member or intimate partner of the law enforcement officer.” It makes a criminal out of anyone who intentionally publishes personally identifiable information of a law enforcement officer, such as a photo or video, with the intent to “threaten, intimidate, harass or stalk,” according to the bill’s text. State representatives unanimously passed House Bill 2273 out of the House Judiciary Criminal Committee. The legislation would make it more difficult to hold public servants accountable for their misconduct. HB 1643 was signed by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt at the end of May, 2021 and takes effect November 1, 2021.īack in February, Oklahoma Legislators passed the second of two companion bills that would criminalize anyone who films and publicly posts a photo of police officers.ĭetermined to prove their support for law enforcement, Oklahoma state senators and representatives took a drastic step.ACLU, other groups opposed to the bill.“Intent” is determined by a judge or prosecutor.Bill meant to protect privacy of government workers prohibits posting a video or photo of a police officer with “threatening intent”.Oklahoma bill would ban photos, videos of police if it becomes law/ Courtesy: SACS Consulting and Investigative Services
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