Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
360 Virtual Drone Services LLC, et al. v. Andrew L. Ritter, in His Official Capacity as Executive Director of the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 23-1472 · judgment May 20, 2024
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
In an as-applied First Amendment challenge to Mississippi’s surveyor-licensing law, the Fifth Circuit in 2020 held that the standard for determining whether an occupational-licensing law regulates speech or regulates conduct is this Court’s “traditional conduct-versus-speech dichotomy.” Vizaline, LLC v. Tracy, 949 F.3d 927, 932. Below—in this as-applied challenge to North Carolina’s surveyor-licensing law—the Fourth Circuit held that the standard instead entails the balancing of a “nonexhaustive list of factors.” App. 24a. Meanwhile, the Eleventh Circuit in 2022 hewed to a third standard—one the Fifth Circuit two years earlier had repudiated verbatim. Compare Del Castillo v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Health, 26 F.4th 1214, 1225 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 143 S. Ct. 486 (2022), with Vizaline, LLC, 949 F.3d at 931-32. The question presented is: whether, in an as-applied First Amendment challenge to an occupational-licensing law, the standard for determining whether the law regulates speech or regulates conduct is this Court’s traditional conduct-versus-speech dichotomy.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Samuel Bracken Gedge
Institute for Justice
For respondent
Ryan Young Park
North Carolina Department of Justice
Proceedings
- Jun 15 2026Rehearing DENIED.
- May 26 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/11/2026.
- May 15 2026Petition for Rehearing filed.
- Apr 20 2026Petition DENIED.
- Apr 13 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/17/2026.
- Dec 10 2025Supplemental brief of petitioner 360 Virtual Drone Services LLC filed.
- Mar 03 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/7/2025.
- Feb 24 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/28/2025.
- Feb 14 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/21/2025.
- Jan 23 2025Rescheduled.
- Jan 08 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/24/2025.
- Jan 07 2025Supplemental brief of petitioner 360 Virtual Drone Services LLC, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Dec 16 2024Rescheduled.
- Dec 11 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/10/2025.
- Dec 10 2024Reply of petitioners 360 Virtual Drone Services LLC, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 26 2024Brief of respondents Andrew Ritter, et al. in opposition filed.
- Oct 28 2024Brief amici curiae of DroneDeploy, Inc., et al. filed.
- Oct 28 2024Brief amici curiae of John Rosemond, et al. filed. VIDED.
- Oct 09 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including November 27, 2024.
- Oct 07 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 28, 2024 to November 27, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
- Sep 26 2024Response Requested. (Due October 28, 2024)
- Sep 25 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/11/2024.
- Sep 20 2024Waiver of right of respondent Andrew Ritter, et al. to respond filed.
- Sep 09 2024Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 11, 2024)
- Jun 24 2024Application (23A1139) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until September 9, 2024.
- Jun 18 2024Application (23A1139) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from August 18, 2024 to September 9, 2024, submitted to The Chief Justice.