Drone ordinance lawsuit (part 2) updated with video

[Maviac]

Indeed, which is why the deck is stacked in favor of the house. The County has a full staff of lawyers on a fixed salary to do whatever they are told, and while they are appealing the ruling, it most likely also restores the prior status quo. The counties often get into pissing matches with their state over authority, and certainly don't like accepting any ruling from a local magistrate which limits their authority.

I think we’re on the same page here. It would be nice if AMA or AOPA would kick in some legal assistance to folks who need it, but lawyers aren’t cheap (I say this as a lawyer whom most people would say is expensive but I promise after overhead and taking into account my 14-hr+ days, including weekends, I could. I’ve helped out a couple folks pro bono who got wrongfully cited for flying drones (uninformed local officials, in both cases). If UAS folks had some sort of lobby (aside from the commercial side of things) we might be in a position to do something like this.

My understanding is that If you are charged with a crime and demand a jury trial, and you are found guilty by a jury of your peers, a successful appeal is unlikely. (we demanded a jury trial when i was originally charged)

If you choose this other option, and request an injunction, the loser can choose to appeal. I have seen lower court judges rule on emotion rather than law and have their rulings overturned. Ones chance of having this sort of ruling overturned on appeal is much greater than the first example (criminal jury trial)

I‘m not a lawyer in your state

we will soon learn more about how the private law firm hired by the county is paid. There could be piles of attorneys on retainer just to fight this sort of thing, but my guess is that the county got billed for every hour this attorney worked on the case.

while lower court judges from my experience can rule all willy/nilly, our appeals court tends to vote much more in line with the law. We are on solid legal footing. The county doesn’t even have a coherent argument. I was concerned we may lose this first round but I am Confident we will win big at an appeal.

part of the reason the ruling took so long is because Judge Farah is expecting an appeal and wanted to make sure the stage was set properly.

side note, he was a fantastic judge. He was always engaged and seemed eager to be part of history as we all realize this is likely to be a big case. He also read every piece of paper submitted and was familiar with all the arguments before the first hearing began. This is unlike most other judges I’ve seen.

if I had a bar license in your state I’d volunteer to handle the appeal. I’d bet you could find a lawyer who is a drone pilot in the state who would at least offer some assistance. Maybe check with the Michigan Association for Justice (the local trial lawyers group). At least in my state the trial lawyers association gets requests from time to time to assist with things like this and after it goes out on our listserve someone usually raises their hand to assist.

Not that you appear to need any help given your success so far, but appeals raise (at least in most places) some tricky procedural issues that can trip up non-lawyers. Fortunately, as appellee you’re in a good position.

 

[Chip]

My understanding is that If you are charged with a crime and demand a jury trial, and you are found guilty by a jury of your peers, a successful appeal is unlikely. (we demanded a jury trial when i was originally charged)

If you choose this other option, and request an injunction, the loser can choose to appeal. I have seen lower court judges rule on emotion rather than law and have their rulings overturned. Ones chance of having this sort of ruling overturned on appeal is much greater than the first example (criminal jury trial)

Great work Lapeer, this has been inspirational from the start. You handled yourself very well from the initial encounter to this court victory. Whatever the final result, I hereby nominate you for 2020 MAVIC MEDAL OF FREEDOM The Year of Lapeer!

 

[Skyflyer129]

What ever happened here last October? Is this issue resolved in some way?

 

[Skyflyer129]

What ever happened here last October? Is this issue resolved in some way?

I just caught up, whoa. So was there an appeal?

 

[Lapeer20m]

What ever happened here last October? Is this issue resolved in some way?

no appeal. we had a hearing last October and the judge just made his ruling on that case this week. It took much longer than anticipated.

the county may choose to appeal this decision. They have less than 30 days to file the paperwork.

 

[GadgetGuy]

More fun news!

Today the county amended their ordinances in an effort to thumb their nose at the judge And defy his court order!

unbelievable!

View attachment 93797

Kind of what I expected. They don't like judges telling them what to do, and they are willing to devote all necessary resources to defending their turf!

 

[Endeavor]

Interesting take by Steve Lehto

 

[PhantomFandom]

Interesting take by Steve Lehto

FINALLY some common sense by a judge at a state level. Well done by the plaintiffs to challenge this stupidity in court. Hopefully other states see and do the same. In particular, NY State should strike down the ridiculous, stupid, arbitrary, and overly broad restriction on any drone flight in the city limits of NYC.

 

[Nate008]

Awesome! Grew up in Michigan, moved to North Dakota in 2016. I have been told by a ranger in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota that I was not allowed to fly a drone in the park. I did anyway further in the park far from any person or animal, this was a few years ago before there was much of any regulations. Still not sure of there's any laws pertaining to drone operation in a national park. Thanks for sharing the video!

 

[BigAl07]

Awesome! Grew up in Michigan, moved to North Dakota in 2016. I have been told by a ranger in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota that I was not allowed to fly a drone in the park. I did anyway further in the park far from any person or animal, this was a few years ago before there was much of any regulations. Still not sure of there's any laws pertaining to drone operation in a national park. Thanks for sharing the video!

National Parks are OFF limits for UAS!! You can fly OVER them but not from their land unless you have explicit permission from the Park Authority directly.

Policy Memorandum 14-05, released by the National Park Service (NPS) director in June 2014, directed each superintendent to use the authority under 36 CFR 1.5 to prohibit the launching, landing, or operation of unmanned aircraft, subject to the certain conditions and exceptions set forth in the memo. This is still in force with a very few exceptions.

This action applies to the launching, landing, and operation of unmanned aircraft on lands and waters administered by the NPS. Jurisdiction by the NPS ends at the park boundary. The policy memorandum does not modify any requirement imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the use or operation of unmanned aircraft in the National Airspace System.
(See link below for the FULL article directly from the NPS website)

Unmanned Aircraft in the National Parks (U.S. National Park Service)

Information about unmanned aircraft (or drone) use in national parks.

www.nps.gov

Please don't be that "person" and make it harder on the rest of us by intentionally ignoring and breaking the law in the NPS.

 

[Lapeer20m]

It’s been a while since I’ve seen such baffoonery,

So, they are on their third version of the amendment to the ordinances. Still not sure under what authority they are able to amend their ordinances without the normal legal process of reading aloud in 3 meetings and allowing public discussion, but i digress.

version 1:

They had to revise this for obvious reasons.....

here is the 2nd version:



this one appears to be local government attempting to enforce federal law....can’t do that.

here is version 3:


I expect a 4th version soon as this one still appears to make not complying with federal law a violation of the local ordinance. Also, they forgot a period at the end of the sentence. Is nobody proof reading these things?

I don’t think changes to ordinances are supposed to be like posting things to twitter. They are supposed to be a bit more organized and follow an established process.

Also, they still have to address this one as section astill requires a permit:



it’s been an exciting couple of days.

 

[Nate008]

National Parks are OFF limits for UAS!! You can fly OVER them but not from their land unless you have explicit permission from the Park Authority directly.

Policy Memorandum 14-05, released by the National Park Service (NPS) director in June 2014, directed each superintendent to use the authority under 36 CFR 1.5 to prohibit the launching, landing, or operation of unmanned aircraft, subject to the certain conditions and exceptions set forth in the memo. This is still in force with a very few exceptions.

This action applies to the launching, landing, and operation of unmanned aircraft on lands and waters administered by the NPS. Jurisdiction by the NPS ends at the park boundary. The policy memorandum does not modify any requirement imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the use or operation of unmanned aircraft in the National Airspace System.
(See link below for the FULL article directly from the NPS website)

Unmanned Aircraft in the National Parks (U.S. National Park Service)

Information about unmanned aircraft (or drone) use in national parks.

www.nps.gov

Please don't be that "person" and make it harder on the rest of us by intentionally ignoring and breaking the law in the NPS.

I am NOT that "person". This was years ago, and it was at the edge of the park on the west end. I was west of the Oxbow Overlook, since the Park Ranger said not to fly in the park. Further in from the road into the Badlands was what i meant. I am a responsible drone user and would not intentionally break any laws that would do anything to hurt the movement. Thank you so much for posting the link to the regulation! As i read it, they have had many problems with complaints and people harassing wildlife. Pretty sad that their is people that ruin it for others

 

[Lapeer20m]

Video update

 

[Thomas B]

Video update

@Lapeer20m ... Thanks for the update. Bit of a quagmire it seems related to the overreach of the park commissioners.
There is a part of your video at it’s end that appears at the end of the last 37 seconds (following several seconds of black screen) where the audio won’t work and can’t tell what you said. Can you clarify? TIA

 

[Lapeer20m]

@Lapeer20m ... Thanks for the update. Bit of a quagmire it seems related to the overreach of the park commissioners.
There is a part of your video at it’s end that appears at the end of the last 37 seconds (following several seconds of black screen) where the audio won’t work and can’t tell what you said. Can you clarify? TIA

tjat was just an extra bit that should have been cut off.
Thanks for informing me. I uploaded a new version without that part cut off.