Siding with animal-rights activists, U.S. district judge Robert Shelby ruled that Utah’s so-called “ag gag” law is an unconstitutional violation of the right of free speech, said the Salt Lake Tribune. Legislators in a variety of states have pursued the laws, which prohibit surreptitious recording of farming practices, following graphic accounts of mistreatment of livestock.
“Utah undoubtedly has an interest in addressing perceived threats to the state agricultural industry and, as history shows, has a variety of constitutionally permissible ways at its disposal to do so. Suppressing broad swathes of protected speech without justification, however, is not one of them,” wrote Shelby in a 31-page decision.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund, a plaintiff in the case, said ag-gag laws were intended to hide animal abuse from the public. “These unconstitutional laws will fall like dominoes,” it said. The 2012 Utah law was the first to be challenged in court, said the group. However, Idaho’s ag-gag law was the first to be struck down as unconstitutional in August 2015. Idaho appealed the ruling to a U.S. appellate court, which has yet to rule, said NPR. The Utah attorney general’s office says the state is considering its options. According to NPR, at least 16 states have ag-gag laws.