Mercy for Animals (MFA)
May 2016
This ruling should also be a wake-up call to the meat, dairy, and egg industries that attempts to keep consumers in the dark about where their food comes from will not be tolerated.
According to the Idaho Statesman, Idaho has been ordered to pay nearly
$250,000 in legal fees for a case that could have been avoided.
In 2012, Mercy For Animals released findings of an undercover investigation
at Bettencourt Dairies in Hansen, Idaho, where workers were exposed
stomping, beating, dragging, and otherwise torturing the cows.
In response to the investigation, the Idaho Dairymen’s Association drafted
and sponsored an ag-gag bill, which was passed by the Idaho legislature and
signed by Governor Otter in February 2014. This law created a new crime:
“interference with agricultural production.” It essentially criminalized
undercover investigations on factory farms.
A federal judge overturned this dangerous and un-American law last August
for violating the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause of the
Constitution. U.S. district judge B. Lynn Winmill stated in his ruling:
The effect of the statute will be to suppress speech by undercover investigators and whistleblowers concerning topics of great public importance: the safety of the public food supply, the safety of agricultural workers, the treatment and health of farm animals, and the impact of business activities on the environment.
The coalition of nonprofit groups that challenged the law has now been
awarded $249,875.08 in legal fees. Clearly ag-gag laws are not only
unconstitutional, but a huge waste of taxpayer resources.
Idaho is now appealing the court ruling, which will result in an even
greater waste of taxpayer money.
The governor and lawmakers of Idaho should be ashamed. They clearly don’t
value their hardworking constituents and will accept money from big
corporations at the taxpayers’ expense.
We urge Idaho lawmakers to focus their efforts on improving animal welfare
and rewarding the brave whistleblowers who uncover criminal activity in the
state’s agricultural operations.
This ruling should also be a wake-up call to the meat, dairy, and egg
industries that attempts to keep consumers in the dark about where their
food comes from will not be tolerated.
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