Recent court filings show
how widely opposed ag-gag laws are, not just by animal protection groups, but by everyone who cares
about animals, food safety, the environment, and labor laws.
Idaho’s un-American and
dangerous ag-gag law was struck down as unconstitutional last year by a federal judge, but now the state
is appealing that decision. Numerous groups are weighing in to let the judges
know just how bad ag-gag laws really are.
United Farm Workers of
America, a major labor organization that protects farmworkers from occupational
injuries, sexual harassment, and violations of labor and human rights, explained
that Idaho’s ag-gag law “undermines the ability of farmworkers and UFW
representatives to investigate, document and report violations of farmworker
rights.
Food & Water Watch and
the Center for Biological Diversity are public interest and environmental
nonprofits that protect consumer rights, public health, and the environment. They
stated that undercover investigations of factory farms “protect consumers and
public health by filling the gap created by inadequate federal and state
inspection programs. These investigations are currently the public’s best
defense against foodborne illnesses.
Meanwhile, the Plant Based
Foods Association, which supports a fair marketplace for businesses that sell plant-based
foods, says that ag-gag “prevents consumers from receiving and evaluating
truthful information about how animal products are made.
In fact, ag-gag laws are
so unpopular that more than 60 organizations, including food safety, consumer
protection, and free speech groups, have banded together to oppose them in Idaho
and across the country.
Idaho lawmakers show
increasingly poor judgment by continuing to defend an unconstitutional and
unpopular ag-gag law and wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in the process. However, we are confident that the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will uphold the district court’s ruling that the
ag-gag law is unconstitutional.