Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Herbert
Two animal protection organizations and a woman arrested while documenting events at an agricultural site from a public road have challenged Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-112, known as an “ag-gag” statute, as unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The statute criminalizes recording images and sounds of agricultural production facilities without the facility owner’s express consent. The Reporters Committee, joined by 17 other media organizations, filed an amicus brief in support of Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. Amici explain that journalists and other organizations have a long history of improving food safety by exposing violations in agriculture productions. Utah’s “ag-gag” statute interferes with the First Amendment rights of those continuing to inform the public about food safety, the treatment of animals, and environmental concerns. Amici also argue the law is unconstitutional under the First Amendment as a content-based restriction on speech that cannot overcome strict scrutiny.