Right to Record in Police Stations Vexes New York’s High Court

The scope of New York’s right-to-record laws divided the state’s top court Thursday, with one judge concerned about the “absurd results” of finding those laws don’t limit where members of the public can record police activity.

The Court of Appeals must decide whether the state’s right-to-record law and a similar New York City law allow people, such as YouTuber SeanPaul Reyes, to video record law enforcement activities inside police stations, despite a New York Police Department policy forbidding any video recording inside its facilities.

The city argues that if the two laws are found to supersede these recording restrictions, people ...