Professor Gregory McNeal Quoted in "Did That Drone Just Tell Us to Stay 6 Feet Apart?" -- Stateline

Professor Gregory S. McNeal is quoted in the Stateline article, "Did That Drone Just Tell Us to Stay 6 Feet Apart?" The article considers the decisions by law enforcement agencies across the country regarding using drones for coronavirus-related purposes and surveillance.

Excerpt from "Did That Drone Just Tell Us to Stay 6 Feet Apart?"

Since 2013, at least 44 states have enacted laws addressing drones, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. For example, some states bar flights over correctional facilities.

At least 18 states require law enforcement agencies to get a search warrant to use a drone for surveillance or to conduct a search, the group said.

But those laws leave room for uses such as crowd surveillance and broadcasting social distancing messages, experts said.

"Either of those use cases don't violate the Fourth Amendment because people in public places don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy," said Gregory S. McNeal, a professor of law and public policy at Pepperdine University in California.

"The other bigger question is whether we as a society want drones flying around as the enforcers of these bureaucratic rules, whether by blaring these commands by speaker, or by other means," McNeal said. "That's less of a legal question and more of a social acceptance question."

The complete article may be found here