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Idaho judge rules “Ag-Gag” law unconstitutional

The US District Court of Idaho has ruled the state’s “Ag-Gag” law is unconstitutional.

Matthew Liebman, senior attorney for the Animal Legal Defense Fund says the law, passed in 2014, criminalized undercover investigations.  “It’s made it illegal to gain access to a facility by misrepresentation,” he says.  “So if someone wanted to do an investigation but didn’t reveal their affiliation with an animal protection organization or newspaper – than that would violate the ag-gag law.”

He says it also made it a crime to enter a facility that is not open to the public and take photos or videos without the facility owners consent.

A federal judge ruled on Monday that the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Liebman tells Brownfield the Idaho statute is very similar to statutes in other states.  “That should be persuasive on other courts that will consider this issue,” he says.  “Certainly we’ll be siting it in our case in Utah and for the other six states that have “ag-gag” statutes we’re certainly looking closing at those laws and scrutinizing them to see where we ought to continue this battle.”

There are six other states with similar laws – Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Missouri, North Dakota, and Utah.

This was the first time a court has declared an Ag-Gag law unconstitutional.