SACRAMENTO – The Pacific Legal Foundation, on behalf of two groups representing freelance journalists, filed a suit against the state of California over its new labor law, Assembly Bill 5, which sets limits on the definition of independent contractors.
The American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Press Photographers Association filed the suit against Attorney General Xavier Becerra claiming civil rights and speech violations.
“This civil rights lawsuit seeks to vindicate the constitutional rights to free speech, the press and equal protection for the members of plaintiffs American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Press Photographers Association,” reads the introduction of the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
While other organizations, most notably independent truckers, are also suing the state over AB 5’s restrictions, this lawsuit is strictly supporting freelance writers and photographers.
“The lawsuit is only targeting specifically the limitations that are placed on freelance writers,” said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Caleb Trotter, who is working on the case.
Those limitations boil down to just 35 submissions per year from freelance journalists and photographers, while other fields such as marketing and graphic design have no cap whatsoever, according to the lawsuit. The law also prohibits photojournalists from submitting any video.
Trotter affirmed the difference in treatment directed towards journalists compared to other professions is a violation of their First Amendment rights.
“We’re not seeking for the journalists to be given any special treatment under this law but merely seeking for them to be treated the same as the other speaking professions, like the grant writers and graphic designers, with giving full exemption from the ABC Test – and the reason that needs to be the result is because this law is treating two different speaking professions differently on the basis of what they are producing.”
As for the future of freelance journalism under the current law of AB 5, it looks bleak.
“I think by in large you’re just going to see California freelance journalists with a lot less work than they did previously,” said Trotter.