Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 8/4/15

A federal judge on Monday deemed unconstitutional Idaho’s new “ag-gag” law that criminalizes undercover investigations in agricultural facilities, according to court documents.

U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill’s ruling is the first to strike down a state “ag-gag” law. Seven other states have enacted similar statutes in recent years.

Idaho enacted its iteration in February 2014 in response to an undercover video captured and released by animal activist group Mercy for Animals showing workers at a dairy farm in Hansen, Idaho, abusing cows.

The Idaho Dairymen’s Association had drafted and sponsored the bill that became code, contending that Mercy for Animals failed to immediately report the abuse and therefore allowed additional abuse to occur. The law ultimately would deem “interference with agricultural production” — or what one supporter of the bill called “farm terrorism” — a new crime.

Under the law, a journalist or animal rights investigator can be convicted for not disclosing his media or political affiliations when requesting a tour of an industrial feedlot or applying for work at a dairy farm. Violators could face up to a year in jail.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), joined by other organizations and individuals, challenged the law as unconstitutional, according to the ruling, “by (1) criminalizing all employment-based undercover investigations; and (2) criminalizing investigative journalism, whistleblowing by employees, or other expository efforts that entail images or sounds." ALDF moved for summary judgment on their First and Fourteenth Amendment claims.

Winmill’s take on the Idaho law was that it “seeks to limit and punish those who speak out on topics relating to the agricultural industry, striking at the heart of important First Amendment values. The effect of the statute will be to suppress speech by undercover investigators and whistleblowers concerning topics of great public importance: the safety of the public food supply, the safety of agricultural workers, the treatment and health of farm animals, and the impact of business activities on the environment.”

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