ACLU, ACLU of D.C., and National Press Photographers Association Inform Court docket that Blocking Drone Images of DHS Operations Violates First Amendment

WASHINGTON – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of D.C., and the National Press Photographers Association filed an amicus brief in assist of a Minnesota photojournalist’s lawsuit difficult the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR). Earlier this 12 months, as ICE was finishing up brutal immigration raids throughout the nation, the FAA dramatically expanded restrictions on drone flights, banning such flights over any Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facility or “mobile asset,” which included any DHS automobile.

As the amicus explains, the TFR made it functionally unimaginable for journalists to make use of drones to assemble information in any space the place immigration enforcement brokers have been deployed, violating the First Amendment proper to report public officers performing their duties in public.

“The FAA’s restriction forced journalists reporting on immigration enforcement activity to ground their drones or risk criminal charges. This choice is unacceptable, unconstitutional, and runs roughshod over the First Amendment right to gather news,” mentioned Scarlet Kim, senior workers lawyer with ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.

The temporary explains that the FAA’s restriction was not about public security or nationwide safety. Journalists have been beforehand already suggested and customarily adhered to avoiding airspace round delicate areas, comparable to lively navy bases, airports, and plane carriers. Moreover, press drones weren’t interfering with official exercise or placing anybody in danger by capturing immigration enforcement exercise unfolding in public.

“Under Trump, even the Federal Aviation Administration has develop into a political censor,” mentioned Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at ACLU-D.C. “The agency should be protecting the safety of the flying public, not protecting ICE from unfavorable news coverage.”

The temporary additional explains that journalists have been successfully being censored past their DHS protection, because the unpredictability of the place any DHS automobile could also be touring made it functionally unimaginable for journalists to make use of drones for any newsgathering in areas the place immigration enforcement brokers have been deployed with out placing themselves vulnerable to extreme authorized and monetary penalties.

“Drones have become essential, safe, and economical tools for documenting government activity and other matters of public concern. By creating an unpredictable moving exclusion zone around DHS assets, the FAA forced visual journalists to choose between abandoning lawful newsgathering and risking severe penalties,” mentioned Mickey H. Osterreicher, basic counsel for the National Press Photographers Association. “Safety restrictions must be narrowly tailored and consistent with the First Amendment, especially when they limit the public’s ability to observe government officials performing their duties.”