A federal judge has blocked the enforcement of a Louisiana law that makes it a crime to approach within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of a working police officer after being ordered or asked to step back.
In an order issued Friday granting a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge John deGravelles said that the police-buffer law violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because it is too vague, The Advocate/Times-Picayune reported.
The injunction was sought by several media outlets who sued over the law approved by the Louisiana Legislature and which took effect Aug. 1. A court hearing was held in December.
The law isn’t clear about what actions might prompt officers to issue a retreat order, the judge wrote, and it lacks standards officers should follow in issuing such an order.
“The threat of arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement is great,” deGravelles wrote.