Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced he will not defend a new law that would make it a crime to record in some situations.
The controversial law is scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 24 and would make it illegal to film a video of police officers within 8 feet of “law enforcement” activity.
Anyone who violates the law could face a class-three misdemeanor and up to 30 days in jail.
A spokesperson for the state’s solicitor general wrote that the office is “not the proper party to defend the merits of” the new law in response to a recent lawsuit filed by a coalition of media organizations in opposition of the law.
The legislature will now have to find its own attorneys for the case as a result.
The law was supported by every Republican state legislator and signed into law by Gov. Doug Ducey despite warnings that it violated constitutional rights.