TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Oct 15, 2025

The Memphis Safe Task Force — made up of federal and state law enforcement agents — reportedly is using a new state law that went into effect on July 1 to block access to its activities, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The law makes it illegal to approach a police officer within 25 feet if the officer is engaged in official duties and has ordered the person to stop advancing. Hunter Demster, a leader with Free the 901 (a coalition of groups opposing the task force) says he was told to stand 25 feet back while filming police activities. The paper notes that Tennessee’s law is similar to laws in Indiana and Louisiana, which federal courts have ruled unconstitutional. A coalition of news organizations have sued the state of Tennessee over the law.