#EndAgGag: Short film released following recent U.S. court decisions concerning Ag-Gag challenges
The film urges action on Ag-Gag laws, which seek to 'gag' would-be whistleblowers and undercover investigators by punishing them for recording footage of what goes on in animal agriculture.
ALDF: The Animal Legal Defense Fund [ALDF] released ‘The Dangers of Ag-Gag Laws’, a short film narrated by actress and star… Edie Falco. The film urges action on Ag-Gag laws, which seek to “gag” would-be whistleblowers and undercover investigators by punishing them for recording footage of what goes on in animal agriculture. The 13-minute film uncovers how Ag-Gag laws flout the First Amendment and conceal pollution, food safety threats, and animal cruelty…
Ag-Gag laws attempt to ban, is critical to holding the industry accountable for not only the inhumane treatment of animals, but environmental impacts, threats to food safety, unsafe working conditions, and stifling free speech,” says Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells… “Each of these lawsuits is about upholding individuals’ First Amendment rights — in the pursuit of transparency in the country’s food system — versus the protection of corporate industry. This should concern all Americans”…
Though laws have been proposed in more than half of states in the U.S., many have been defeated in the legislature. Just over half of the laws passed, typically in large agricultural states, have been challenged by coalitions — led by the Animal Legal Defense Fund — alleging the laws are unconstitutional. The barrage of lawsuits and appeals came to a head in August 2021, with a flurry of decisions issued in a matter of weeks… There are nine lawsuits challenging state Ag-Gag laws around the country…
For more than a century, the public has relied on undercover investigations to expose illegal and cruel practices on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. No federal laws govern the condition in which farmed animals are raised for food, and the two laws addressing slaughter and transport are laxly enforced. Undercover investigations are the primary avenue through which the public receives information about animal agriculture operations. SOURCE…
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