Posted October 2, 2013
Animal rights groups that opposed “ag-gag” laws in state legislatures now hope federal courts will overturn the laws which make it a crime to secretly record farming operations, according to an article by the Globe Gazette, available here.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), journalists and college professors filed a lawsuit in Utah District Court challenging Utah’s law on First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment grounds. The complaint is available here.
The Utah “agricultural operation interference” law, Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-112, was adopted in 2012 by the Utah Legislature and makes any person who: records an image of, or sound from the agricultural operation “by leaving a recording device” without the owner’s consent, a Class A misdemeanor. The law makes the following a Class B misdemeanor: obtaining access to an agricultural operation under false pretenses; applying for employment with the intent of recording an image or sound, knowing that such action is prohibited; recording an image or sound while employed and present at the agricultural operation; or recording an image or sound while committing criminal trespass.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Stewart Gollan, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said, “These kinds of laws run counter to what we are supposed to have in this country, which is a lively and informed public debate, and these laws tend to make the debate one-sided.” The Salt Lake Tribune article is available here.
Jeffery Kerr, general counsel for PETA, said that Utah’s “ag-gag” law serves to cover up animal abuse, according to a Huffington Post article available here. Stephen Wells, executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said, “We have the right to bring animal cruelty to light and will not allow politicians or industry insiders to violate these rights.”
An upcoming webinar/CLE: “Enforcing Animal Welfare Statutes: Whose Job is it, Anyway?” will take place on October 10, 2013 from 12-1 p.m. (CDT). The program is co-sponsored by the National Agricultural Law Center and the American Agricultural Law Association and presented by Elizabeth Rumley, staff attorney for the National Agricultural Law Center. For additional information and registration, visit the National Agricultural Law Center website here.
For more information on Animal Welfare, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center website here.
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