This weekend California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the Drone Privacy Protection Act of 2014, landmark legislation that established statewide restrictions on local and state government use of surveillance drones. AB 1327 was chief authored by Assemblyman Jeff Gorell (R-Camarillo) and joint authored by Assemblyman Steven Bradford (D- Gardena), Assemblyman Bill Quirk (D-Hayward), and Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance).

“I am very disappointed by this democratic Governor’s decision to veto a bill that provided commonsense protections to protect privacy rights and civil liberties,” said Jeff Gorell, a Commander in the U.S. Navy. “We live in an era of government surveillance, where powerful government agencies like the NSA and IRS have demonstrated blatant disregard for Americans’ privacy rights. In Congress, I will make personal privacy a top priority and work on establishing common sense drone restrictions that California failed to establish.”

AB 1327 required law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant except in specified situations, such as exigent circumstances (hostage situations, “hot pursuit,” search and rescue, etc.), firefighting, and responding to environmental disasters (chemical/oil spills). AB 1327 also prohibited the weaponization of drones, required agencies intending to use drones to provide public notice, and required drone-collected images to be destroyed within 1 year.

AB 1327 endorsements include Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, Ventura County Star, and Sacramento Bee. Additionally, over 40 constitutional law professors from across the nation urged Governor Brown to sign AB 1327 into law. Erwin Chemerinksy, a prominent constitutional scholar and founding dean of UC Irvine School of Law, also supported the bill and penned an opinion editorial explaining why AB 1327 needs to become the law.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been mandated by Congress and the President to integrate drones into the national airspace by 2015. An estimated 20,000 drones are expected to fill the nation’s skies by 2020. AB 1327 was the only drone privacy protection bill that passed out of the Legislature to the Governor.