A federal judge has temporarily halted enforcement of a 2023 Indiana law that criminalizes anyone who gets within 25 feet of an on-duty police officer after being told to stop.

Lawmakers argued HEA 1186 was meant to protect police. A group of media organizations and Indianapolis newspaper and television stations sued the state last year over the law.

Judge James Sweeney said the measure is unconstitutionally vague. He said it allows police to order someone to move back at least 25 feet for any or no reason at all.

“Simply being within 25 feet of a police officer is not a crime,” Sweeney wrote. “And indeed, important First Amendment rights are regularly exercised within 25 feet of law enforcement every single day.”

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Sweeney also said the law doesn’t identify any behavior that would require police to order someone to move back. And his ruling said law enforcement “cannot expect to operate with a 25-foot forcefield around them.”

There is a separate lawsuit over the buffer law, filed by a citizen in South Bend. That case is currently before the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.