Drones Face Supreme Court Showdown Over Free Speech Rights
Old-school journalists used typewriters and flash-bulb cameras. North Carolina content creator Michael Jones gathers information with drones. He follows all privacy and safety laws, but unless the Supreme Court intervenes, state regulators stuck in the past will shut him down.
In his petition for review, filed September 9, Jones seeks First Amendment protection for his work. The underlying question is urgent: What counts as speech in the digital age as technology advances from moveable type to thermal-sensor quadcopters and next-generation tools not yet invented?
Jones does not produce a community newspaper, podcast, or any type of political commentary. He takes aerial photographs of private property with the owners’ permission. Then he stitches the images together into high-definition maps for clients.
He gathers information, organizes it, and publishes it—just like Benjamin Franklin and other print pioneers in the 1700s. The only difference is the purpose. Jones does not seek to shape public opinion; he just wants to earn an honest living. The First Amendment should protect him the same as if he were producing books or art.
Millions of content creators would benefit from this protection, including coaches, consultants, professors, trainers, and advisers with specialized expertise. End-of-life doulas Akhila Murphy and Donna Peizer talk about death. Traffic light enthusiast Mats Järlström discusses mathematical formulas for timing yellow lights. Retired engineer Wayne Nutt talks about math. All these individuals have received cease-and-desist letters from regulators citing occupational licensing laws that attempt to block their speech.
More recently, censors came after Ryan Crownholm in Los Angeles. His so-called crime? Using publicly available information from sites like Google Maps to make digital drawings. Homeowners and contractors use these drawings for permit applications when they need to show proposed locations for pools, sheds, and similar improvements. Other clients include hotels, resorts, and farmers markets that want visual represent
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