The suit involves a filmmaker named Kelly Ramos who was harassed repeatedly and eventually arrested by Trenton police officer Herbert Flowers in 2006 while working on a documentary about a violent street gang.

The trial judge, who is not named in the decision or the article, based his decision on recent case law, according to Friday's appellate ruling:

The motion judge determined that Flowers was entitled to qualified immunity on the Civil Rights Act claims, because he found there was no well-established right to videotape the police at the time of the incidents involving Flowers. He relied primarily on Kelly v. Borough of Carlisle, 622 F.3d 248 (3d Cir. 2010). In that case, the Third Circuit concluded that "there was insufficient case law establishing a right to videotape police officers during a traffic stop to put a reasonably competent officer on 'fair notice' that seizing a camera or arresting an individual for videotaping police during the stop would violate the First Amendment." Id. at 262. With regard to the May 12, 2006 arrest, the judge held that Ramos's guilty plea demonstrated his acknowledgement of probable cause for his arrest. The judge entered an order granting summary judgment and dismissing the complaint.

But the appellate court based its decision on the First Amendment.

http://www.pixiq.com/article/new-jersey-appellate-court-affirms-rig...