March 30, 2022
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Texas drone law restricted San Antonio-area journalists, photographers from doing jobs, judge rules - San Antonio Express-News

Billy Calzada, a photojournalist and FAA Part 107 drone pilot with the San Antonio Express-News, was using a drone to photograph the aftermath of a fatal apartment fire on July 24, 2018, when ATF agents and the San Marcos police told him to stop. Lawyers for the National Press Photographers Association, along with other attorneys and journalism organizations, sued the state of Texas and won, striking down a law that provided severe penalties for certain kinds of drone photography.
Billy Calzada, a photojournalist and FAA Part 107 drone pilot with the San Antonio Express-News, was using a drone to photograph the aftermath of a fatal apartment fire on July 24, 2018, when ATF agents and the San Marcos police told him to stop. Lawyers for the National Press Photographers Association, along with other attorneys and journalism organizations, sued the state of Texas and won, striking down a law that provided severe penalties for certain kinds of drone photography.

A federal judge this week overturned several portions of a state law that restricted journalists from using drones for photography and newsgathering, holding that those sections of the law violate the First Amendment.

The ruling, issued Monday, comes after two journalism trade associations and a Texas-based reporter filed a lawsuit in 2019, alleging that the law hindered the ability of reporters and photographers to use drones for gathering and disseminating news.



source: https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Texas-drone-law-restricted-San-Antonio-area-17040864.php

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