This bill, the Right to Record Act of 2026, creates a federal right to record, observe, or peacefully protest federal law enforcement activities in public view. It lets people sue federal officers who violate that right. The bill defines many specific types of violations, such as preventing recording, threatening or retaliating against someone for recording, seizing or destroying recordings without consent, demanding ID or arresting someone for recording, and pursuing or surveilling someone because they recorded. The bill covers federal law enforcement officers, including immigration officers, and federal law enforcement agencies.
If you record, watch, or peacefully protest federal law enforcement activity in a place you are legally allowed to be, this bill says you have a right to do so. You could sue a federal officer who stops you, seizes your recordings, or otherwise retaliates for your recording or peaceful protest. The right does not protect someone who physically restrains or blocks an officer taking official actions. The bill also requires federal agencies to train officers about these rights within one year of enactment and every year after.
The bill sets statutory remedies: the plaintiff may recover the greater of actual damages or $25,000 in statutory damages for each violation. It also allows punitive damages up to $100,000 for violations done with malice or reckless disregard. Courts must award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff. The bill waives sovereign immunity for claims against the United States under this Act and makes the United States liable for the same damages available against individual officers. No publicly available information on total federal costs, budgetary estimates, or how many claims might arise.
The bill's sense of Congress section states that the First Amendment protects recording, observing, and peacefully protesting public officials in public view. It says Congress can enhance remedies by creating a clear statutory cause of action so people deprived of these rights have a path to redress.
No publicly available information.