After being nominated by President Barak Obama on June 26, 2014, Robert L. Pitman, born and raised in Texas, became the first openly gay United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. Gaining a reputation for more liberal views, Judge Pitman famously ordered Texas to suspend the Texas Heartbeat Act in 2016. Judge Pitman said of this law, which bans abortions after 6 weeks of term, that it is an “offensive deprivation of such an important right.” However, two days later his suspension was reversed by the US Fifth Court of Appeals.

Judge Pitman has continued to lead an illustrious career, and on March 28, 2022, he made a ruling that could go on to greatly impact federal drone laws for the better. Judge Pitman was presented with a challenge by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), the Texas Press Association (TPA), and several photojournalists based out of Texas. The plaintiffs argued that Chapter 423 of the Texas Government Code was improperly prohibiting them from using drones to perform their journalistic duties. Not only did Judge Pitman agree with the plaintiffs, but he deemed Chapter 423 unconstitutional. “We’re very pleased with it and we also hope it will send a message to other states and municipalities to dissuade legislators from enacting unconstitutional laws,” said Mickey Osterreicher, NPPA’s general counsel. “We’ve seen other cases where the courts have struck down similar laws in municipalities, but this is the first time that a state law has been struck down as unconstitutional.”

Chapter 423 was instated in 2013, with amendments made in 2017. The law allows for drone photography in certain cases, such as academia, real estate, and surveying, but prohibits journalistic use. In 1914, the founding dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, Walter Williams, wrote “The Journalist’s Creed”, which has since been published in more than 100 languages and serves as a guiding principle for journalists worldwide. In the creed, Williams says, “I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.” In today’s modern world, a journalist needs access to modern technology, like drones, to adequately report the news to the public.

Helicopters are still used in news reporting, but drones, for good reason, are quickly becoming favorites among journalists. A drone can be ready in a matter of minutes, can access areas where a helicopter cannot, costs a fraction of the price, and delivers incredible footage. But because of laws like Chapter 423, journalists can’t take advantage of the many opportunities to serve the public that drones provide.

In the court documents, Judge Pitman states, “Plaintiffs allege that the civil and criminal penalties within the Chapter 423 provisions restrict the First Amendment right to newsgathering and speech and chill Plaintiffs and their members from using UAVs for certain newsgathering activities.” He concludes the statement saying that Chapter 423, and all of its amendments “violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments and are therefore unconstitutional.” Judge Pitman’s ruling could be the first step in broadening the legal use of drones in the US.

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