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National Briefing | Northwest

Idaho: Ban on Filming Animal Abuse Unconstitutional

A federal judge has ruled that Idaho’s law banning secret filming of animal abuse at agricultural facilities is unconstitutional. United States District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled Monday that the law violated the First Amendment. “Audio and visual evidence is a uniquely persuasive means of conveying a message, and it can vindicate an undercover investigator or whistle-blower who is otherwise disbelieved or ignored,” Judge Winmill wrote. “Prohibiting undercover investigators or whistle-blowers from recording an agricultural facility’s operations inevitably suppresses a key type of speech because it limits the information that might later be published or broadcast.” A coalition of animal activists, civil rights groups and media organizations sued the state more than a year ago, opposing the so-called ag gag law. The coalition said the law curtailed freedom of speech and made gathering proof of animal abuse a crime with a harsher punishment than the penalty for animal cruelty. Idaho lawmakers approved the law in 2014 after the state’s $2.5 billion dairy industry complained that videos of cows being abused at a southern Idaho dairy in 2012 unfairly hurt its business. Judge Winmill countered that there are already state and federal laws that protect private property.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 17 of the New York edition with the headline: Idaho: Ban on Filming Animal Abuse Unconstitutional. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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