Idaho Appeals Ruling Against “Ag-Gag Law”

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The state of Idaho is appealing a federal court's decision to overturn the state's "ag-gag law."

The Spokesman Review reports that the law makes it a crime to surreptitiously videotape agriculture operations. Idaho lawmakers passed the law 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 business.

The Los Angeles-based animal rights group Mercy For Animals released the videos. They showed workers at Bettencourt Dairy beating, stomping and otherwise abusing cows in 2012.

A federal court invalidated the law in August, holding that it violated First Amendment. The state appealed that ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.