On May 22, the Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in support of Project Veritas v. Schmidt, a case that challenges Oregon’s restrictions on recording public officials. This marks the second time the Liberty Justice Center has weighed in on the case, having previously filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit in 2024. The case, now before the United States Supreme Court, could set a national precedent for the right to record government officials and hold them accountable.
Oregon Revised Statute Section 165.540(1)(c) prohibits individuals from recording conversations without the consent of all participants but carves out exceptions for certain types of recordings—such as those involving law enforcement officers on duty, custodial interviews, or public meetings—while continuing to ban recordings of other government officials or activities. The Liberty Justice Center’s amicus brief argues that these content-based distinctions violate the First Amendment by treating speech differently depending on its subject matter.
Drawing on Supreme Court precedents such as Reed v. Town of Gilbert and City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising, the brief argues that Oregon’s law unfairly treats recordings differently depending on the topic or subject. Because the law makes these clear distinctions, the brief says it should face the toughest level of review by the courts.
“The Oregon statute is plainly content based, because it allows recordings of some conversations, but not others, to be obtained and disseminated, based on their content,” the brief states. “Whether the recording may be disseminated depends on what the recording is of—that is, what its content is. This is not a time, place, or manner restriction, but a direct regulation of speech based on subject matter.”
“The government cannot treat speech differently based on its content,” said Jeffrey Schwab, Senior Counsel for the Liberty Justice Center. “Through its exceptions the Oregon statute allows certain recordings while prohibiting others based entirely on the topic of those recordings.”
The Liberty Justice Center remains committed to defending free speech and ensuring that the public can exercise its constitutional rights to observe and report on government activity.
A copy of the amicus brief filed in Project Veritas v. Schmidt is available here.