Several states have made attempts to provide the animal production industry protection against unlawful interference by enacting so-called Ag-Gag laws. A wave of litigation is challenging these laws as unconstitutional, claiming the laws violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.
Since the 1990s, state legislatures have grappled with how to safeguard the animal production industry against smear campaigns by individuals or animal welfare activist groups who gain access to private property through deception. After all, trespass is a crime—in one form or another—in every state.
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