Common Sense and the Constitutionality of the Texas...

Menacing spy craft... unmanned aerial vehicles... and missile laden predators. These are the images that come to mind when the word drone is spoken. Taken to new heights during the Global War on Terror, military drones have struck fear into the hearts of Americas enemies. Now the U.S. government is starting to look inward toward its next target: the American people. Already starting along the US/Mexico border, big brother is indiscriminately watching whole neighborhoods via high tech zoom and heat imaging technology. There is even a debate in congress as to whether it is lawful for an American citizen to be killed by a missile firing drone. These actions and debates have caused legitimate concerns for the American people in regards to†¦show more content†¦Although the photographs could have been taken just as legally from a piloted airplane, the fact that they were taken by a model aircraft is what got the local state representatives attention. Apparently, Texas legislators were more concerned by the fact that a remotely operated model airplane had flown over private property, than by a disgusting industrial biohazard. Shortly after this case, the Texas Privacy Act soon followed. Under the current drone law, there would have been a much different outcome than in the Trinity River case cited above. If that case were to have happened today, there would have been serious ramifications to the model planes operator. He would have been given a citation for merely taking or possessing each photo and arrested if he released the photographs to a third party. There would have been civil liability in the amount of $5000 for possession of the photographs, and up to $10,000 if even one picture was released. To add insult to injury, the photographs could not be used in any civil or criminal action, except to prove that they had been taken illegally. And if that weren’t enough, no evidence subsequently gathered as a result of the photographs could be used in court, since the initial evidence was gathered illegally. One can only ask who this legislation was intended to protect? Of course, governmental drones are unaffected and exempt from these types ofShow MoreRelatedWhy Pro Choice Is The Right Choice1879 Words   |  8 Pagesreceive an abortion in the state of Texas. Because Texas had laws criminalizing abortions that were not performed in order to save the life of the mother, McCorvey filed a class-action suit on behalf of all women in her position. Before Roe v. 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