[3] In 2002, the conservative organization American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) drafted the "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act", a model law for distribution to lobbyists and state lawmakers.
[4] The whistleblower advocacy project Food Integrity Campaign (FIC), a campaign of the non-profit organization the Government Accountability Project calls undercover video of livestock facilities by whistle blowers essential: When it comes to bringing horrific truths to the public eye, undercover footage and images are often an effective outlet for whistleblowers who otherwise risk retaliation when speaking up.
Statements by Ag Gag bill sponsors imply that "real" whistleblowers have a safe and effectual means for speaking up, when history shows that's often not the case.
[5]Ag-gag laws have also drawn criticism on constitutional grounds by legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, as a violation of the First Amendment for restricting unpopular forms of speech.
The Right to Farm Bill 2019[8] added criminal penalties for those who damage property, release livestock, or induce others to commit "aggravated unlawful entry".
[12] The bill, which had its first reading in November 2019, makes specific reference to "land used for the production of crops, the raising and maintenance of animals, and the keeping of bees.
[23] The administrative court of Paris asks the Ministry of the Interior to put an end to the prevention of "actions of an ideological nature" of the cell on 1 February 2022.
Legal professionals state that if the ruling is left standing, it "would drastically limit the ability of federal courts to protect rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.
The fourth law created "unauthorized sampling" and an additional "Cameras or electronic surveillance devices" crime applicable if someone is criminally trespassing, the penalty for which is an aggravated misdemeanor for a first offense and a class D felony for a second or subsequent-offense.
[36] In 2020, in the case of PETA et al. v. Stein, Judge Schroeder struck four subsections of North Carolina's 2015 Property Protection Act, writing "the law is declared unconstitutional as applied to them in their exercise of speech."
[43] For instance, in 2007, an undercover investigator from The Humane Society of the United States visited the Hallmark/Westland slaughterhouse in Chino, California, and filmed downed cows, too sick to stand up, being "dragged by chains and pushed by forklifts to the kill floor".
The investigator documented standard practices such as painful debeaking without painkillers and tossing live birds into plastic bags to suffocate, along with other behavior deemed "sadistic" and "malicious".
[44][45] Fifty-nine groups, including a wide variety of welfare, civil liberties, environmental, food safety and First Amendment organizations have publicly stated opposition to ag-gag laws.
Some of these groups include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Amnesty International USA, Farm Sanctuary, Food and Water Watch, Food Chain Workers Alliance, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, International Labor Rights Forum, National Consumers League, and United Farm Workers, among many others.
[46] On July 22, 2013, the ALDF, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and others filed their first lawsuit challenging ag-gag laws on constitutional grounds, in Utah.
[47] Utah's law made it illegal to obtain access to an agricultural operation under false pretenses, such as providing inaccurate information on a job application, which is one of the ways that investigative reporters document violations and abuses.