“Ag Gag” is the name given to Iowa Legislation, by opponents of animal agriculture, that is meant to stop trespassing on livestock operations, and categorizes any deceptive means used to gain access as trespassing. It is the fourth such law to be challenged by animal rights groups as “unconstitutional” and “prohibitive of free speech”. A similar law in Kansas went all the way to the Supreme Court.
Earlier this week, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the injunctions placed on the law by a lower court, citing that by defining what is constituted as “trespassing” and the law’s targeting those who have the “intent to cause physical and economic harm”, does not constitute the government taking sides on an issue or restricting the rights to free speech.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund says it intends to petition the Supreme Court to take up the ruling, and hopes to stop it once again. However, that is up to the Supreme Court. Jeff Stein of Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network affiliate KXEL in Waterloo is a licensed lawyer and member of the bar. He is also certified to argue cases all the way to the United States Supreme Court. He talks about what the next steps are if the animal rights groups decide to take it up the ladder. As Stein says, an appeal doesn’t guarantee you a spot before the Supreme Court.
Of course, the other course of action is to ask the Supreme Court to reauthorize the injunction while it debates whether or not to hear the case. Stein talks about how that could or couldn’t be accomplished.
This is not quite over yet, but the avenues of argument left for animal rights groups are getting narrower.
