Idaho’s anti-dairy spying lawsuit attracts supporters

A dozen groups representing food safety supporters, free speech advocates and labor unions are helping fight the Idaho law banning secret filming of animal abuse at agricultural facilities.

The Idaho Statesman reports that the groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals detailing their opposition. They argue that the law violates the First Amendment.

No groups have filed similar briefs in support of the law.

Idaho lawmakers passed the law making it a crime to surreptitiously videotape agriculture operations in 2014 after the state’s $2.5 billion dairy industry complained that videos of cows being abused at a southern Idaho dairy unfairly hurt their businesses.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund sued the state, and in 2015 a federal court invalidated the law. The state has since appealed that decision and a hearing is scheduled for next month.

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Information from: Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com