North Carolina
North Carolina Drone Photographer Seeks Supreme Court Support for First Amendment Rights
Michael Jones asks the court to uphold his right to provide aerial information to clients.
Yesterday, the Institute for Justice (IJ) filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Michael Jones, a drone photographer in North Carolina. The case brings forward an important question: does providing data and information through aerial photographs qualify as speech that the First Amendment fully protects, or do state licensing boards have the authority to censor it?
For several years, North Carolina’s land-surveying board has targeted small drone operators, including Michael Jones, claiming that their aerial maps amount to illegal land surveying. Unlike many states, North Carolina classifies even basic aerial mapping as surveying. This requires operators to hold a full surveyor’s license, which demands years of education and experience. The state has enforced this law rigorously, threatening drone businesses with severe penalties.
Jones’ Legal Battle
Michael Jones, based in Goldsboro, North Carolina, is an FAA-licensed drone operator who sought to build an aerial-mapping business. His goal was to provide landowners with aerial perspectives, which they often find useful without needing a full land survey. He wanted to use his drone to capture images and create maps or 3D models using publicly available tools.
However, in 2019, the North Carolina surveying board issued a cease-and-desist letter. The board ordered Michael to shut down his operations or face civil and criminal penalties. In response, Michael sued the board, arguing that his maps and photographs are forms of speech protected by the First Amendment.
“I’ve always been clear what I’m doing isn’t setting property lines. It’s simply providing pictures and information,” said Michael. “I even included a big red disclaimer on my website saying I’m not a licensed surveyor, but the board shut me down anyway. I don’t know of any surveying company that was using drones like I was.”
The Fourth Circuit Court Decision
In May, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Michael’s case. Although visual information and images have long received First Amendment protection, the court ruled that Michael’s creation of maps was “conduct” and not speech. The court’s reasoning was partly based on the fact that Michael’s work takes place on private property, which it claimed gives the government more leeway to regulate.
IJ Senior Attorney Sam Gedge criticized the ruling, stating, “Drone technology may be new, but the principles at stake in Michael’s case are as old as the nation itself. 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 differently.”
The Fourth Circuit’s ruling conflicts with decisions made in other federal courts. The Fifth Circuit, covering Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and the Eleventh Circuit, covering Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, have issued rulings that favor the protection of such activities under the First Amendment.
A Call for Supreme Court Intervention
With the split between the circuits, Michael is now asking the Supreme Court to take up his case. His petition argues that if the government can stop someone from communicating aerial photographs simply because they contain specific information, First Amendment rights are at risk. “When a government agency sends a cease-and-desist letter telling you to stop communicating photographs containing specific types of ‘data’ and ‘information,’ that’s a red flag that serious First Amendment interests are in play,” said IJ Attorney James Knight.
This is not the first time the Institute for Justice has faced such a challenge. IJ has successfully defended similar cases, including a mapping company in Mississippi that faced similar accusations of unlicensed practice. Michael’s case joins others, including a map maker in California.
The Supreme Court’s decision on whether to hear Michael’s case could have far-reaching implications for First Amendment rights, particularly in an era when technology like drones is rapidly evolving. The outcome may determine whether state licensing boards can regulate new technologies in ways that limit both entrepreneurship and free speech.
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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
TWITTER:@spaldingbarker
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North Carolina
Oregon Ducks’ Dan Lanning Compliments ‘Brilliant’ North Carolina Coach Bill Belichick
The No. 1 Oregon Ducks are the only undefeated team left in college football. At 13-0 and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Oregon earned a first-round bye. The Ducks are Big Ten Champions in their inaugural season in the conference. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel was a Heisman Trophy finalist.
…. In short, the 2024-25 college football season has been Duck domination by coach Dan Lanning.
However, another coach is grabbing headlines while the Ducks prepare to face either theOhio State Buckeyes or Tennessee Volunteers in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick will coach at the collegiate level for the first time as he takes over the University of North Carolina football program. Belichick takes over for Mack Brown in a stunning move.
Lanning and Belichick are familiar with each other and Lanning complimented the new Tar Heels coach.
“I got an opportunity to go visit OTAs (NFL organized team activities) before and visit with him on the phone a few times,” Lanning said. “Obviously, a brilliant football coach and there’s a reason he’s had all the success he’s had. Extremely organized, deep thinker, and certainly he can coach football. So I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him have success there at UNC.”
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Belichick holds the NFL record for most Super Bowls with six as the New England Patriots head coach. Widely regarded as one of the best NFL coaches of all time, Belichick is 72-years-old and a descendant of the Bill Parcells coaching tree.
How Belichick transitions to college and the new transfer portal, Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) era will be under much scrutiny. In 2024, North Carolina finished 6-6 and in 10th place in the ACC conference.
In his introductory press conference in Chapel Hill, Belichick said he “always wanted to coach in college football and it just never really worked out. I had some good years in the NFL, so that was OK. But this is really kind of a dream come true.”
His dad, Steve, served as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953 to 1955. Belichick doesn’t have vivid memories of his family’s time at UNC but said he was always told, “Billy’s first words were ‘Beat Duke.’ … So, full circle.”
Belichick and Lanning won’t meet in the regular season as members of difference conferences. The two could meet on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal, as many prospects are excited about the idea of playing with the legendary Belichick.
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(The Center Square) – White House dismissal notwithstanding, mysterious drones are the talk of the nation. And North Carolina has entered the chat.
“We are actively communicating with federal and local agencies about residents’ reports of drones spotted in eastern North Carolina and are working to find answers,” said U.S. Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C.
The federal government, said national security spokesman John Kirby, hasn’t identified public safety or national security risks. Sightings started in the northeast last month, speculation has intensified, and there’s been little to no explanation.
Reaction has ranged from marvel and wonder to the paraphrase of a number of both Democratic and Republican politicians to “shoot first, ask questions later.”
“There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration,” Kirby said. “And there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day. That is the ecosystem that we are dealing with.”
That said, federal probes have been started. There have been more than 5,000 reports to the FBI, with roughly 100 drawing investigations, says a joint statement put out by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense.
Published reports of similar sightings exist to the west in California, the Midwest in Minnesota, and even across the Atlantic in England.
North Carolina
North Carolina parent arrested for strangling student inside school in caught-on-video attack: police
A North Carolina father was arrested Monday after allegedly storming into a high school and strangling a teenage student in a caught-on-video attack.
Quinton Lofton, 43, was charged with felony assault by strangulation and disorderly conduct for allegedly jumping a 17-year-old inside the halls of Fike High School in Wilson the same morning, CBS 17 reported.
Lofton, who has a child at the school, was supposed to report to the high school’s office but instead targeted the student — allegedly over a prior dispute outside its halls.
“The parent did not report to the office and instead assaulted a student in the hallway,” Fike Principal Ross Renfrow said in the statement to families obtained by the local station.
The attack was an escalation of a “situation that happened outside of school,” Renfrow added without providing further details on the said situation.
The Wilson County Sheriff also said the assault was over “an isolated incident that occurred outside of school.”
Disturbing footage of the beat-down obtained by WRAL News shows Lofton allegedly grabbing the student by the neck and tossing him down onto a staircase.
The teen appears to seize as his body lies on the stairs but is able to slowly get up and walk away shortly after, according to the clip.
Staffers then separated the grown man from the student, “diffused the situation and escorted the parent out of the building,” Renfrow said.
The student’s family questioned how Lofton was allowed inside the school and able to attack the teenage boy without any intervention.
His older sister said he was “traumatized” by the assault.
“He’s very shaken up by the whole event that took place this morning,” his sister Shaniqua told WRAL. “He’s pushing through. He’s trying to, you know, remain positive through the whole situation.”
School officials called authorities and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lofton. He is no longer permitted at the high school.
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