Appeals Court Upholds Ban on Aerial Mapping by Non-Surveyors
A 3-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that North Carolina can prohibit the creation of aerial maps by anyone aside from licensed land surveyors. This decision affects Michael Jones, a drone operator based in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in addition to other entrepreneurs within the state. Jones, together with the Institute for Justice (IJ), plans to hunt further appellate review to revive his right to supply aerial mapping services without government interference.
North Carolina’s land-surveying board has been targeting small drone operators, claiming their maps and models constitute illegal “surveying.” Unlike many other states, North Carolina classifies even basic aerial mapping as “surveying,” requiring a full surveyor’s license. This license demands years of education and experience. The surveying board has enforced this law strictly, threatening drone corporations with civil and criminal penalties.
Jones, an FAA-licensed drone operator and photographer, aimed to begin an aerial-mapping business to supply landowners a bird’s-eye view of their property, useful in situations where a full land survey is unnecessary. Nonetheless, in 2019, the surveying board issued a cease-and-desist letter to Jones, demanding he stop his mapping operations or face severe penalties.
IJ Attorney James Knight stated, “The court’s decision today injects uncertainty right into a basic query of First Amendment law: How can we determine when speech is speech? Today’s ruling says that the state can criminalize sharing certain varieties of photos and not using a government-issued license. And it does so on the idea that such a law one way or the other doesn’t regulate ‘speech.’ The ruling is badly flawed: Photographs are speech.”
Jones sued the board, arguing that creating and sharing visual details about land is free speech protected by the Structure. The Fourth Circuit, nevertheless, determined that Jones’s actions don’t constitute speech, but reasonably “conduct” that falls under the surveying occupation. The court also reasoned that because Jones’s activities happen on private property, the federal government has more leeway to control them than in the event that they occurred on public land.
The choice allows North Carolina to implement its law without considering its impact on free speech rights, putting Jones and other drone photographers in danger.
“Drone technology could also be latest, however the principles at stake in Michael’s case are as old because the nation itself,” said IJ Senior Attorney Sam Gedge. “Taking photos and providing information to willing clients is speech, and it’s fully protected by the First Amendment. Only by badly misapplying the First Amendment could the Fourth Circuit hold in another way.”
Jones and his company, 360 Virtual Drone Services LLC, will seek further review, either from the complete Fourth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court.
“When the surveying board first told me that I used to be breaking the law, I could hardly imagine it,” said Jones. “I didn’t think that I used to be doing anything that could possibly be considered surveying. In actual fact, I don’t know of any surveying company that was using drones like I used to be. I’m trying to maintaining the fight and getting justice, not only for myself, but for other drone operators across North Carolina.”
The Institute for Justice defends First Amendment rights and economic liberty nationwide. In December 2020, IJ successfully defended a Mississippi mapping company similarly charged with unlicensed practice. IJ has also won appeals court decisions in free speech cases for a veterinarian in Texas and tour guides in Charleston, South Carolina. Find more information on the case here.
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