CINCINNATI, Ohio — A federal appeals panel on Wednesday took up the fight over a Tennessee law that lets police order onlookers to keep 25 feet away while officers work, a rule a group of news organizations says is too vague to survive.
Under the Tennessee Bystander Interference Act, passed in 2025, an officer making an arrest, conducting a traffic stop or handling other official business can tell people nearby to back off. Supporters call it a halo law meant to protect officers. Anyone who refuses can be arrested, and a conviction carries up to six months in jail or a fine as high as $500.
The news companies sued several state officials and the Nashville police chief in 2025, arguing the measure violates the First Amendment. In February, the district court under Judge William Campbell Jr. turned down their bid for a preliminary injunction, finding no credible threat that the law would be enforced against them. The appeal asks the Sixth Circuit to revisit that call.
At the hearing, the lawyer for the media group told the three judges the law gives officers no standard for deciding who must move or when. Chief Circuit Judge Raymond Kethledge pushed back, saying traffic stops, crime scenes and immediate safety threats cover most police duties, and he suggested an order to step back is a mild request that does not force reporters off a scene.
Gabriel Krimm, a senior assistant solicitor general, argued for Tennessee that the challengers misread the statute. The state told the court in its brief that the law adds no new police powers and simply lets officers enforce spoken orders to bystanders in a uniform way.
A lawyer for the Metro Nashville government said the police chief takes no side on the vagueness question and has pledged not to enforce the law while the case is pending.
Similar proximity laws have not fared well elsewhere. Federal courts previously struck down buffer zone measures in Indiana and Louisiana as too unclear, so the Sixth Circuit decision could shape how other states write such rules. Judges R. Guy Cole Jr. and Andre Mathis joined Kethledge on the panel, and no date has been set for a decision.
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