Texas state law prohibiting drone usage found unconstitutional

May 1, 2022

A Texas federal court judge in March struck down restrictions on news photographers’ uses of drones, finding a strict state law unconstitutional.

The National Press Photographers Association and Texas Press Association on behalf of a Dallas freelancer and a staff photographer of the San Antonio Express News who were qualified to fly drones but not allowed to use them for news-gathering. The Express News Photographer was threatened with arrest after photographing the aftermath of a fatal fire with his drone, according to NPPA.

Judge Robert Pitman of the Western District of Texas said the process of taking photographs enjoyed as much First Amendment protection as the photographs themselves. The state law created civil penalties for use of “an unmanned aircraft to capture an image of an individual or privately owned real property ... with the intent to conduct surveillance on the individual or property captured in the image.”

The law exempted some academic and commercial uses but not news gathering.

The National Newspaper Association joined media organizations in an amicus brief by Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, defending the First Amendment rights of news photographers.