A federal judge in Idaho has ruled that an "ag-gag" law is unconstitutional. For those unfamilar, an ag-gag law, as defined by the article is "[a law that] outlawed undercover investigations of farming operations, is no more. A judge in the federal District Court for Idaho decided Monday that it was unconstitutional, citing First Amendment protections for free speech". As reported:
Laws in Montana, Utah, North Dakota, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa have also made it illegal for activists to smuggle cameras into industrial animal operations. But now those laws' days could be numbered, according to the lead attorney for the coalition of animal welfare groups that sued the state of Idaho.
"This is a total victory on our two central constitutional claims," says University of Denver law professor Justin Marceau, who represented the plaintiff, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, in the case. "Ag-gag laws violate the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause. This means that these laws all over the country are in real danger."
"Ag-gag" refers to a variety of laws meant to curb undercover investigations of agricultural operations, often large dairy, poultry and pork farms. The Idaho law criminalized video or audio recording of a farm without the owner's consent, and lying to a farm owner to gain employment there to do an undercover investigation.
Previously: Dairy Lobbyist Crafted Idaho's "Ag-Gag" Legislation.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Wednesday August 05 2015, @09:50AM
Agreed. I think the punishment should be that they be burned at the stake. It seems appropriate. If that seems inappropriate, they should be forced to live in a small cage in one of these awful chicken farms for a week or work for a month in a chicken slaughtering plant. If they ever eat chicken again I'll be shocked.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Wednesday August 05 2015, @01:27PM
they should either be burned at the stake or have their heads cut off.
I think the stake is better; a hot steak is much better than a cold chop! (nyuk, nyuk!)
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