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Federal judge strikes down Iowa law to block groups secretly filming livestock abuse

March 17, 2022 - from The Hill:

"A federal judge this week struck down an Iowa law that made it a crime for animal rights groups to go undercover and film potential livestock abuse on farms or other animal operations.

"The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa rejected a 2019 law, known as Ag-Gag 2.0, that created a trespassing charge — punishable by up to a year — for people deceptively gaining access to an animal operation to negatively affect operations there.

"The Animal Legal Defense Fund, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, celebrated the decision in a press release, explaining the undercover investigations are vital to public debate about the treatment of animals and the quality of food production.

"The animal rights organization pointed to a graphic May 2020 video from The Intercept depicting the mass slaughtering of pigs through a ventilation shutdown. The animals were slowly cooked to death at the Iowa operation.

"In the ruling, Judge Stephanie Rose said lawmakers have a right to assess legal protections at agricultural facilities, but the legislature cannot impinge on free speech rights and bar people with a certain point of view, according to The Associated Press.

"So-called Ag-Gag laws have been struck down in Kansas, Wyoming and Utah, but Iowa has passed four similar bills since 2012, the AP noted.

"According to a copy of the lawsuit filed by the plaintiffs, Iowa lost a similar effort on a separate Ag-Gag bill in 2019 and tweaked the law that was struck down this week only slightly."