The Issue of the Ag-Gag Law Dealing With Animal Rights Being Ruled Unconstitutional
In 2015, the ag-gag law signed into law by Idaho Governor Butch Otter was ruled unconsti- tutional by US, District Court Judge B, Lynn Winmill. The law was stuck down on the basis that the law denied equal protection of the law and right to free speech. The Idaho ag-gag law had made it unlawful for animal rights activists to film or record audio inside industrial animal facili— ties without the permission of the facility‘s owners and to seek employment at these facilities with the sole purpose of carrying out an undercover investigation. There is a legitimate concern about activists gaining employment at these facilities and recording on private property, but this should not be attached to the recording of potentially unlawful acts pertaining to animal welfare. The Idaho ag» gag law attempted to disconnect the free speech issue by making it unlawful to obtain employment at these facilities with the sole intention of attempting to document animal abuses.
This certainly does cause a problem for businesses with this undercover activist who will leave the job once they finish their investigation. Farmhands are not high skill jobs and it wouldn’t be difficult to fill that vacancy very quickly. The problem here is that this action by it- self should not be illegal. The difficulty of proving in court that they had gained employment only to investigate the facility would make this law a burden on the courts. The law doesn’t focus on the theft of intellectual property or trespassing on its own, which already have related laws on the books. Instead, it specifically targets the whistleblowing activity that is exposing potentially illegal activities related to animal welfare The law sets a bad precedent that discourages whistle- blowing across not only the agricultural industry, but all industries.
It is a ploy to make the ldaho ag-gag law into something other than a free speech issue. The law wouldn’t make it a condition to get permission from the owner before being able to film if it weren’t about strictly preventing activists from filming inside the premises of a private business. It makes it sound as if the employees are allowed to film, but it negates any anonymity by crimi- nalizing the act if they did not seek permission from the owner beforehand. Exposing activities that are relevant to the public good like the inhumane treatment of animals that are part of the food supply should not be against the law. An ag-gag law needs to identify the harm of these ac- tivities that exceed the harm done to the animals and the public trust of the food supply.
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It is ar gued that these animal welfare expose’s are hurting the farm industry, but it misses the point that inhuman treatment of animals should result in damage to the industry The novel solution to combat animal welfare activism is to humanely treat animals that are raised for food Employees that are responsible for these abuses should have their employment terminated, Businesses should see these investigations as free quality control. Herein lies the problem where the businesses are aware of the inhumane treatment. it goes beyond the employ- ees in many cases and it is a systemic issue in large-scale factory farming. This is why these farms lobby for ag-gag laws to be passed by their state legislatures in order to prevent their busi— ness practices from being exposed to the public.
They have little desire to change what they are doing and their desire for ag»gag laws is a great argument for ag—gag laws to be struck down. Ag-gag laws are made to prevent the public from being exposed to how their bacon is made, Farms could simply clean up their act and they would no longer have the issue of animal rights activists attempting to film inside their farms. The right to film in order to investigate and expose potentially illegal abuse against animals should be seen as a public service. Some of the videos showing cruelty against farm animals show systemic abuses that go beyond a single em- ployee, Ag—gag laws are clearly an attempt to hide the systemic abuses in factory farming and has almost nothing to do with private property rights or issues pertaining to employing activists.
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The Issue of the Ag-Gag Law Dealing With Animal Rights Being Ruled Unconstitutional. (2023, Mar 13). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/the-issue-of-the-ag-gag-law-dealing-with-animal-rights-being-ruled-unconstitutional/
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