Judge Rules Idaho ‘Ag Gag’ Law Banning Filming Of Animal Abuse Illegal

Idaho lawmakers approved the law in 2014 after the state’s $2.5 billion dairy industry complained that videos of cows being abused at a southern Idaho dairy filmed in 2012 unfairly hurt their business.

Associated Press
By Associated Press

BOISE - A federal judge has ruled that Idaho's law banning secret filming of animal abuse at agricultural facilities is unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled Monday the law violates the First Amendment. A coalition of animal activists, civil rights groups and media organizations sued the state more than a year ago,

Read Full Article

Idaho Ag-gag Bill Bans Filming Inside Farms After Abuse Video Surfaces

The bill’s sponsor, Idaho state Sen. Jim Patrick, a Republican from Twin Falls, claimed the bill was crafted in response to a video showing animal rights abuses at a Bettencourt, Idaho, farm that supplies Burger King meat.

Mint Press News Desk
By Mint Press News Desk

BOISE, Idaho --- According to emails obtained through an open records request, a dairy industry lobbyist was allowed to directly craft what would ultimately become Idaho’s “ag-gag” bill -- the latest in a series of state laws that seek to prevent animal rights activists from exposing the abuses of industrial agriculture. The bill’s sponsor,

Read Full Article

Coalition Wages Legal Challenge To Idaho’s ‘Ag-Gag’ Law

‘The Idaho law is deeply distressing because it is aimed entirely at protecting an industry, especially in its worst practices that endanger people, at the expense of freedom of speech.’

Andrea Germanos
By Andrea Germanos
A Pilgrim's Pride contract chicken farm full of three-week-old chicks just outside the city limits of Pittsburg, Texas, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

A diverse coalition filed a federal lawsuit on Monday to overturn Idaho's recently enacted 'ag-gag' law — legislation critics say makes 'documenting cruelty the crime, rather than the cruelty itself.' Signed by Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter at the end of last month, the law criminalizes those who secretly document abuse of animals at

Read Full Article

Idaho’s “Ag-Gag” Law Latest To Criminalize Defenders Of Animals

Despite losses in other states, Idaho lawmakers pushing hard to paint activists as “terrorists”

Jon Queally
By Jon Queally

  Though similar efforts in other states have failed, a bill moving swiftly through the Idaho legislature this week is trying to criminalize the activities of animal rights advocates who expose the mistreatment of farm animals and livestock by documenting abuse by their human handlers. Known broadly as 'Ag-Gag' legislation, the

Read Full Article