Senators debate limits on drone use

Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, holds up a personal drone as an example in arguing in favor of his bill before the Louisiana Senate Tuesday. (Photo by Jack Richards)

By Jack Richards
Manship School News Service
BATON ROUGE — The Senate Judiciary committee on criminal matters debated bills Tuesday restricting what people — and the government — can do about drones flying over private property and over crime scenes. The former was deferred while awaiting related House bill, while the latter was approved.
Chairman Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, authored two bills criminalizing unwanted drone flying on private property as criminal trespass. The bills differ in the approach to criminalization -- Senate Bill 124 creating a new crime of “criminal trespass by unmanned aircraft” and SB141 adding drones to current trespass law.
Claitor said the bills were about protecting citizens’ 4th Amendment rights and privacy. He brought personal drones to the meeting to show lawmakers how cheap and accessible they are.
Both bills received opposition from Chinese drone company DJI Technology, shipping giant Amazon and representatives of the news media. They all agreed one of problems was that a blanket prohibition on flying drones would disrupt legitimate drone activities, such as newsgathering and shipping packages, in the case of Amazon.
They suggested legislators instead support House Bill 635 from Rep. Marcus Hunter, which criminalizes abusive or nuisance use of drones. Claitor decided to defer action on his bills.
In related discussion, the Judiciary C Committee heard Sen. Bodi White, R- Baton Rouge, push his drone bill that would expand current law making it a crime to obstructing a police officer to include flying drones over a crime scene.
Representatives from police unions and the sheriffs’ association said they were worried about officers’ safety and the integrity of their crime scenes.
“These things have, on occasion, fallen from the sky,” Mike Ranatza, executive director of the sheriff’s association, said. “We merely want to do our job and not have these devices prevent us from doing our jobs.”
Sen. Jonathan Perry, R-Kaplan, noted the bill allowed sheriffs to disable offending drones and asked whether officers would use a disruptor or some other means to bring down the drone. White suggested, in a worst-case scenario, they might have to shoot it down.
The bill originally included language which banned drones from flying over demonstrations and parades, due to an oversight in drafting. The bill passed to the Senate floor for full consideration with that language removed.
Contact Jack Richards at itsjuhler207@gmail.com.