PPAGLA Letter to Chief Cummings regarding new LAFD Policy
Khai Le
On March 23, 2012, PPAGLA legal consultant Jean-Paul Jassy, a partner with Bostwick & Jassy law firm, served notice to Los Angeles City Fire Department Chief Brian Cummings to express our concerns with recent policy changes that 'seriously threaten the newsgathering rights of journalists and photojournalists, and endanger the public's right to know about the functioning of its government'.
PPAGLA, along with Society of Professional Journalists, stated that 'this new LAFD policy violates: the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and California Penal Code Section 409.5(d)". Representatives from Radio & Television News Association (RTNA) have also expressed their displeasure with this new LAFD policy.