A federal appeals court in Pennsylvania has ruled that filming cops is illegal, and can lead to arrest. The cases of Fields v. City of Philadelphia, and Geraci v. City of Philadelphia involve two historic incidents where citizens were arrested for filming the police. Theantimedia.org reports: Richard Fields, a Temple University student, was arrested after stopping to take a picture of a large group of police outside a house party. Amanda Geraci, a legal observer with CopWatch Berkeley, attended a large protest against fracking in September 2012 and was arrested while filming the arrest of another protester. Both Fields and Geraci are seeking damages from the Philadelphia Police Department for violating their Constitutional right to videotape public officials. Previous rulings have found the public has a right to record police as form of “expressive conduct,” such as a protest or criticism, which is protected by the First Amendment. The appeals court was specifically tasked with finding out whether or not the public has a First Amendment right to photograph and film police without a clear expression of criticism or challenge to police conduct. The court wrote: “Fields’ and Geraci’s alleged ‘constitutionally protected conduct’ consists of observing and photographing, or making a record [...]