Joel Kurtzberg and John MacGregor Publish “City Proposes Rule Giving Journalists Due Process Rights Before Revoking Press Credentials” in the New York Law Journal
Date: 08/14/20
Nearly five years after it improperly seized a photojournalist’s NYPD-issued press credential, the City of New York has agreed to substantial and long-overdue reforms to its rule governing the suspension or revocation of press credentials.
On July 14, 2020, the City of New York published a proposed rule that would, for the first time, give holders of NYPD-issued press credentials robust due process rights whenever the City summarily suspends or revokes a press credential. The proposed rule results from years of hard-fought litigation in which Cahill represented photojournalist Jason Nicholas. In October 2015, the NYPD unlawfully seized Nicholas’s press credential with no explanation of what he had allegedly done wrong and no notice or meaningful opportunity to be heard after the credential was taken.
Although the proposed rule is, in several ways, far more protective to journalists than the existing state of affairs, numerous media outlets—including the New York Times and New York Post—have criticized the proposed rule. In this article, partner Joel Kurtzberg and associate John MacGregor describe the tangible improvements of the proposed rule over the status quo.