April Ehrlich was a reporter for Jefferson Public Radio in 2020, when she was prevented from covering a sweep of a homeless camp in a public park by Medford Police. She was arrested and charged, but all charges were eventually dropped or dismissed just before her trial was slated to begin in 2022.
Now a reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting, Ehrlich is taking Medford officials to court, with the trial scheduled for November 14th. Ehrlich says her arrest was a violation of her constitutional rights, and of free press itself.
“You hear different sides of different stories,” said Ehrlich, explaining the role of journalists in the field. “You have people who are saying ‘the police are doing X, Y, Z,’ and then you have the police saying ‘Well, no, we’re doing A, B, and C.’ And the only way to adequately know what is happening is to have a reporter, a journalist there, documenting these events and providing those facts to people.”
The City of Medford maintains it did nothing wrong and defends its closure of the park.
Ehrlich announced her suit in September. The case will go before U.S. District Court Judge Mark Clarke.
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