Drones: Coming to a Sky Near You!

At Mulligan Attorneys, Attorney’s, our mission and goal is to help people in need. Whether that means defending a traffic ticket or a DWI charge, resolving charges of a misdemeanor or serious felony, settling injury and insurance claims, guiding you through tough times such as separation or divorce, or getting you compensation for work-related injuries, we’re committed to your best interests. In fact, our team is so cutting edge that we’re experts not only on today’s laws, but tomorrow’s as well.

Allow us to explain. As society changes and new technologies are invented, the laws of the land must evolve and grow, too. We’ve seen this play out many times over the course of the USA’s history, as seen by the recent Supreme Court’s recent decision on same sex marriage. While that’s a big change, legal adjustments happen all the time on a small scale, too. Case in point: drones.

Drones are a fairly new invention. It stands to reason that our forefathers who wrote the Constitution couldn’t have predicted that one day, tiny remote-controlled robots would be buzzing through the sky, doing everything from waging wars to delivering our Amazon packages. Now, some lawmakers are trying to decide whether law enforcement officials can also use drones for surveillance. So far, the answer seems to be yes.

A recent article in the News & Observer reported that local and state agencies will soon be able to start flying done aircraft legally. This new law is a result of Senate Bill 446, which would allow government agencies to use drones in order to gather information about people, but only in cases of law enforcement, emergency management, environmental regulation, and scientific research.

While some people are excited about the possibilities this will create (the bill passed by 106-4 by the House) others worry that using drones in this way is an invasion of their privacy, a violation of the Fourth Amendment, and a new way for the government to spy on the public. According to the International Business Times, the ACLU is working to educate the public about these new regulations. Meanwhile, Sarah Preston, policy director for the ACLU of North Carolina, predicts that there will be many lawsuits stemming from these changes.

While the legal ramifications of drones may not be on your mind yet, rest assured they’re already on ours. If and when you need help navigating the ever-changing laws of the land, Mulligan Attorneys, will be here for you. In the meantime, contact us with your questions about the law and its effect on you.