Lawmakers passed the law in April 2023, allowing police to ask bystanders to back up 25 feet from where an officer was questioning someone, making an arrest.
INDIANAPOLIS — A U.S. District Court has granted a motion for a preliminary injunction against Indiana’s “Buffer Law,” finding the law is unconstitutionally vague.
Indiana lawmakers passed the law in April 2023, allowing police officers to ask bystanders to back up 25 feet from where an officer was questioning someone, making an arrest or conducting any kind of police business. A bystander who disobeyed could be charged with a misdemeanor and face a fine and/or jail time.
The law took effect three months later in July 2023.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, along with several central Indiana media outlets — including WTHR — challenged the law as unconstitutional.
On Friday, Sept. 27, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled that the Buffer Law …