fbpx

Terry Mutchler Cited for Work in Groundbreaking Police Accountability Case

March 21, 2022

Terry Mutchler, Chair of Obermayer’s Transparency & Public Data Practice, has been recognized for her work in a “groundbreaking” law enforcement accountability case by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Terry worked with Paula Knudsen Burke of the Reporters Committee’s Local Legal Initiative to help journalist Hurubie Meko obtain 16 hours of bodycam footage showing protesters clashing with law enforcement officers outside of the Lancaster City Bureau of Police in September 2020.

It marked the first time that an agency in the state released footage after an appeal under Pennsylvania’s Act 22. That law, passed in 2017, authorizes members of the public to request video or audio recordings created by law enforcement agencies.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press was created in 1970 at a time when the nation’s news media faced a wave of government subpoenas asking reporters to name confidential sources.