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Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Otter

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  1. Newsgathering
The Animal Legal Defense Fund, ACLU of Idaho, and others filed suit alleging that Idaho's "ag gag" statute is unconstitutional.…

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, ACLU of Idaho, and others filed suit alleging that Idaho’s “ag gag” statute is unconstitutional. The statute criminalizes the recording of an agricultural production facility’s operations without the facility owner’s express consent. It also criminalizes obtaining records of an agricultural production facility by force, threat, misrepresentation, or trespass. It defines “agricultural production” broadly, including preparing land for agriculture, handling pesticides, making repairs, and raising or keeping animals, fish, bees, and so on. It includes both private and public operations. The Reporters Committee, joined by 15 other news organizations, argued that the Idaho statute weakens food safety guarantees at the same time it stifles free speech. Journalists’ investigations into meat-processing facilities have long been credited with advancing the safety of the food the public consumes. By criminalizing a broad range of activities, the statute infringes on journalists’ ability to effectively gather the news and inform the public about agricultural operations.

Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Otter

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