The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently issued an opinion in National Press Photographers Association v. McCraw, a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Texas’ drone privacy law.  [Read Opinion here.] Statutory Background In 2013, the Texas Legislature passed the Texas Privacy Act, Chapter 423 of the Texas Government Code (“Chapter 423”).  The purpose of this statute was to regulate the use of drones in Texas airspace.  [To read full summary of the law, click here.]  Essentially, Chapter 423 can be divided into two sections:  the Surveillance… Read More →

A Texas federal judge has stricken down the vast majority of a Texas drone law as unconstitutional.  [Read Order here.] Background The “Use of Unmanned Aircraft” statute was passed in 2013.  To read a prior blog post reviewing the statute in detail, click here.  This lawsuit breaks the challenged provisions into two categories: Surveillance Provisions and No-Fly Provisions. The Surveillance Provisions (Texas Government Code Sections 423.002, .003, .004, and .005) impose criminal and civil penalties for anyone using a drone to capture an image of an individual or… Read More →

A lawsuit recently filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas challenges the constitutionality of the Texas “Use of Unmanned Aircraft” statute. Background This background section will focus on those areas relevant to the lawsuit and will not provide a complete summary of the statute. [Read full statute here and read prior blog post here for a more detailed summary of the statute.] Back in 2013, the Texas Legislature passed the “Use of Unmanned Aircraft” statute.  This legislation sought to address various issues… Read More →

The 85th Legislative Session brought an amendment to the law related to use of unmanned aircraft in Texas.  Importantly for agriculture, the amendment adds confined animal feeding operations (“CAFOs”) to the list of “critical infrastructure” facilities to which additional flight limitations apply for many drone operators.  The amendment will go into effect on September 1, 2017. This post will review, in detail, the current Use of Unmanned Aircraft statute and discuss the most recent amendment.  For those of you not concerned with the specific details, the “Take Away… Read More →