Victory: Ag-Gag Law Ruled Unconstitutional

…this time it’s a thirty-year-old law in Kansas. State-based action alerts!
A federal court in Kansas has ruled that the state’s “ag-gag” law is unconstitutional. The tide is indeed turning against these terrible laws, but there are still states where this legislation needs to be removed.
Ag-gag laws refer to state legislation that prohibits documenting, with either photographs or video, the conditions on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The intent of these laws is to prohibit animal welfare groups from documenting cases of animal abuse at these operations. Legislators responsible for this legislation are rightly concerned that evidence of the conditions on CAFOs will outrage Americans. Fortunately, these laws are being struck down for violating the First Amendment.
Kansas is the fourth state where an ag-gag law has been struck down (similar laws were previously disallowed in Idaho, Utah, and Iowa). Despite these wins there are still ag-gag laws on the books in Alabama, North Carolina, Montana, North Dakota, and Arkansas.
The practices that Big Ag and their friends in the legislature want to hide from public view are truly horrific. Iowa’s law passed shortly after an undercover investigation of one CAFO got footage of workers burning the beaks off baby chicks, throwing chickens by the neck, and leaving dead chickens to rot in cages where live birds were kept. Other investigations found CAFOs using gestation crates—small metal enclosures—for pregnant pigs, a practice the company claimed they had ceased.
Consumers cannot make informed decisions without information. Big Ag is trying to block us from obtaining this information so they can keep mistreating animals and not pay the price for it. These laws cannot be allowed to stay on the books.
Action Alert! If you live in one of the five states listed below that currently has an ag-gag law on the books, click the “Take Action” button to ask your representatives to repeal the law in order to avoid a costly lawsuit like the one in Idaho.

  • Arkansas
  • Alabama
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Montana

20 comments

  1. This is why I no longer eat meat much these days. It makes my stomach turn knowing how these animals are treated. Especially since I raised a couple of calves. This is horrible treatment. Wish the humans that did this got the same treatment.

  3. Consumers cannot make informed decisions without information. Big Ag is trying to block us from obtaining this information so they can keep mistreating animals and not pay the price for it. These laws cannot be allowed to stay on the books.

  4. So obviously unconstitutional it should be treated as harassment and a financially intimidating action.

  5. It is a sad state of affairs when Politicians and BigAg think “telling the truth” should be banned!

  7. That this sort of law could even be brought into existence should be a devastating embarrassment to the legislators of the six states that made it possible for corporate interests to succeed in buying these laws onto the books. Further it should be a permanent embarrassment to the people of those states that they allowed these laws to remain on the books for more than just a few days after they were voted into existence. Finally these laws should be a lasting embarrassment to every agency charged with oversight and enforcement of animal welfare everywhere in this country.
    What the hell is taking so long?

  8. YOU MAY FEEL FREE TO PUBLISH OR LIST MY EMAIL ADDRESS. I AM PROUD OF WHAT I THINK BECAUSE I KNOW I AM RIGHT. I AM A LICENSED PHYSICIAN AND I BELIEVE THE DESCRIBED PRACTICES ARE INHUMANE (ANYBODY KNOWS THAT) AND DEPLORABLE. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS SORT OF CRUELTY TOWARD LIVING CREATURES OF ANY KIND. PEOPLE WHO CARRY OUT THESE ACTS SHOULD BE IN PRISON, PREFERABLY FOR LIFE

  9. There should be NO AG-GAG law anywhere. Consumers should be able to see the care that is or isn’t being done to the animals that we rely on for food. Simple as that.

  11. Thank God this is happening. Animals have been viciously abused for yrs for PROFIT. They can still be profitable and treated humanely. No excuse for mistreating ANY animal for ANY reason. Just SICK SICK SICK people.

  12. Acually ag-gag laws are only unconstitutional if it is on PUBLIC property. Going on private property and taking photos or documenting anything is a violation of the land owner’s right to privacy (5th and 9th amendments) and a violation of the 4th amendment.

  13. WE MUST SAVE THE PLANET FOR OUR CHILDRENS’ CHILDREN – WE MUST HAVE CLEAN AIR, WATER & FOOD IF WE EXPECT TO SURVIVE – WE MUST COEXIST WITH OUR WILDLIFE & ENVIRONMENT IF WE WANT TO LEAVE ANYTHING FOR OUR CHILDREN – PLEASE THINK WITH YOUR HEART & YOUR HEAD & DO THE RIGHT THING – GOD BLESS AMERICA & GOD’S SPEED – TX U!

  14. The practices that Big Ag and their friends in the legislature want to hide from public view are truly horrific. Iowa’s law passed shortly after an undercover investigation of one CAFO got footage of workers burning the beaks off baby chicks, throwing chickens by the neck, and leaving dead chickens to rot in cages where live birds were kept. Other investigations found CAFOs using gestation crates—small metal enclosures—for pregnant pigs, a practice the company claimed they had ceased.
    Consumers cannot make informed decisions without information. Big Ag is trying to block us from obtaining this information so they can keep mistreating animals and not pay the price for it. These laws cannot be allowed to stay on the books.

  15. We were better at one time. Through the years, everything has been done quicker, easier, cheaper, at the cost of the environment. We need to think of ways to reverse this trend, & help the earth & thus everyone else in the long run.
    Don’t forget about cutting back our carbon footprint. (and all that entails, including reduce, refuse, reuse, recycle, compost—when you can safely, & living as simply as possible, cutting back on excess, downsizing, etc . . .).
    I’m trying, but I think we could do more to encourage others around the world. Including setting a good example ourselves. I’m not sure Trump did the wrong thing. I was not in favor of the Paris Agreement for my own reasons, and I am a tree hugger. I also love this planet & all in it. but the nuclear option could blow it for all of us. (making it worse than it could ever get—because nuclear energy is very dangerous) I sometimes wonder about people who are pushing for the nuclear option. Do they just not know the past mishaps? do they have too much trust in humanity? do they not think of terrorism or other such deeds? Not to mention natural disasters?, etc . . . I think that was a mistake. It, nuclear energy, should not have been included in the answer to our problems. & I worry that this is buried in this Green New Deal as well.
    Another problem is that Haste Makes Waste & many times in our urgency to do good we move too fast for our own good & the good of others. Someone may suffer as a result & there may be no quick remedies before much suffering by many. So we need to take it slow by testing small areas first & then progressing, realizing that some things will not show up right away. But the first steps above could start earlier. But in any case we need to realize that we may need to make changes for the best of all.
    This is the best time to realize that all people, animals, beings/creatures, spirits, etc . . . dwell in the same space: Earth. We are the past, present, & future. We are all above, below, on and or in the earth. It is the home of us all & we all need each other whether we know it or not. We should make all plans keeping the future of all in mind. We are all connected, so what we do in one part of the world will eventually get to another.
    & I hope you will join me in praying for the president & that he & his team will realize our wishes & understand they are for his benefit as well as the benefit for everyone else in the long run.
    If you’d like, you could pass on my wishes to him as well.
    I share a variety of perspectives. no matter who we are or where we came from, we can thank God that we are here & that we do have a lot to be thankful for.
    Maybe not as much as some. But a lot more than others. yes, there are times when I feel worse than others, that happens to all of us, no matter who we are. But thank God we are here. We can also agree to disagree on many issues. That’s life.
    The whole point is that we are all here, thank God, & we all have life,
    & we all are together.
    Have a Happy Valentine’s Day weekend!
    Take care & God Bless All . . .

  17. This is a good reason to support farmers that raise grass fed, pastured animals. It is so much better for the animal, their ecosystem and the planet.

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