Thread by @gabrielmalor

Fed. judge issues a TRO enjoining DHS in Portland from using force against or arresting journalists and legal observers. courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

(Twitter appears to be having trouble with pics right now, but the link to the decision works just fine.)

Here's the major points:

1. Fed. defendants cannot require journalists or legal observers to disperse, nor can they be arrested for failing to disperse.

2. Fed. defendants cannot require journo/LO to stop photographing, recording, or observing a protest.

3. Fed. def. will not be in violation of the order for unintentional violations where a journalist is not carrying or wearing a press pass, badge, or official press credential or distinctive clothing that identifies the wearer as a member of the press.

4. Legal observers must wear a green National Lawyer's Guild-issued hat or a blue ACLU-issued vest.

5. Fed. defendants will not be liable for violating the order if a journo/LO is incidentally exposed to crowd-control devices after remaining in the area where such devices were deployed.

That's the bottom line. The court's brief discussion (all of this is brief; it's a TRO) of the interests is also noteworthy.

Again, I would use pics, but given Twitter's issues right now, the balance of interests are summed up:

1. Fed. interest in maintaining order at courthouse has nothing to do with restricting journos, who aren't vandals.

and

2. Fed. interest in preserving access to the court is w/o merit bc all this is occurring after-hours when the court is closed anyway.

Anyway, TRO runs for 14 days to start.