Project Veritas challenge to Oregon ban on secret recording won't face SCOTUS scrutiny

Source: Courthouse News Service

October 6, 2025


WASHINGTON (CN) — Dodging an important First Amendment case on the docket, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to decide if Oregon’s prohibition on unannounced recordings is unconstitutional. Project Veritas, a conservative media organization known for its secret recordings, says the Beaver State unconstitutionally bans undercover journalism. Oregon’s unusually strict law prevents recordings that are allowed in other states.

Project Veritas says the restrictive law turns investigative journalism and critical news coverage into a geographic lottery. “If left unresolved, journalists’ freedom to uncover truth hinges arbitrarily on their state’s interpretation of content neutrality,” the group wrote. “Equally troubling is that Oregon attempts to shield most public discussions from newsgathering under the guise of protecting conversational privacy.”

Oregon requires all parties to be informed when recording any conversation, with two exceptions: A conversation during a felony that endangers human life, or openly recording interactions with law enforcement officers when they are performing official duties. The state says its law is constitutional because it is content neutral in limiting when an unannounced recording of a conversation is acceptable.

“Each of the exceptions at issue — for conversations ‘during’ a life-endangering felony and conversations ‘in which’ a law enforcement official is participating — ‘draws a line based on the circumstances in which a recording is made, not on the content of the conversation recorded,’” the state wrote. Project Veritas disagreed, arguing that Oregon’s law is textbook content-based regulation.

Read more: https://courthousenews.com/project-veritas-challenge-to-oregon-ban-on-secret-recording-wont-face-scotus-scrutiny/