Victory for Free Speech and Animal Welfare as Federal Judge Strikes Down Iowa 'Ag-Gag' Law

In “an important victory for free speech” and animal welfare, a federal judge on Wednesday struck down Iowa’s so-called “ag-gag” law, determining that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

“It has effectively silenced advocates and ensured that animal cruelty, unsafe food safety practices, environmental hazards, and inhumane working conditions go unreported for years.”
Click Here: gold coast suns 2019 guernsey—Rita Bettis Austen, ACLU of Iowa

The legal groups that brought the case challenging Iowa’s ag-gag law and other animal rights advocates celebrated the win in court, which follows similar victories in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.

“Ag-gag laws are a pernicious attempt by animal exploitation industries to hide some of the worst forms of animal abuse in the United States,” Animal Legal Defense Fund executive director Stephen Wells said in a statement on Wednesday. “Today’s victory makes it clear that the government cannot protect these industries at the expense of our constitutional rights.”

Ag-gag legislation, which has been enacted and often struck down in several states with sizable agricultural industries, aims to prevent journalists and activists from going undercover at factory farms and other facilities where animals are held for commercial purposes, such as slaughterhouses and puppy mills, to shed light on abuse.

As ACLU of Iowa legal director Rita Bettis Austen explained, in her state—home to an estimated 10,000 factory farms—”it has effectively silenced advocates and ensured that animal cruelty, unsafe food safety practices, environmental hazards, and inhumane working conditions go unreported for years.”