Utah’s ‘ag-gag’ law unconstitutional & violates free speech – Federal judge rules

‘A federal judge in Utah has sided with animal rights activists who argued that a law prohibiting undercover investigations of agricultural operations was unconstitutional. Activists contend that similar laws in other states “will fall like dominos.”
In a Friday ruling, US District Judge Robert Shelby struck down Utah’s “agricultural operation interference” law, otherwise known as the ag-gag law, declaring it a violation of free speech rights.
“Utah undoubtedly has an interest in addressing perceived threats to the state agricultural industry, and as history shows, it has a variety of constitutionally permissible tools at its disposal to do so,” Shelby said in the ruling. “Suppressing broad swaths of protected speech without justification, however, is not one of them.”
In 2012, Utah approved a law that made it a class B misdemeanor to photograph or record an agricultural operation without consent from the owner. It also prohibited obtaining access under false pretenses, such as seeking employment with the intent to record or leaving a recording device at an agricultural operation without consent from the owner.’
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