Idaho asks appeals court to uphold ban on spying at farms

SEATTLE – Idaho is asking a federal appeals court to reinstate a statewide ban on spying at farms, dairies and slaughterhouses after a lower court judge sided with animal rights activists who said the ban violated free speech rights.

Idaho lawmakers passed the law in 2014 making it a criminal offence to enter agricultural facilities by misrepresentation or to make undercover audio or video recordings.

The state’s $2.5 billion dairy industry had complained that videos of cows being abused at a southern Idaho dairy unfairly hurt business.

Animal activists, civil rights groups and media organizations sued and a federal judge blocked the law.

The Idaho Attorney General’s Office on Friday asked a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle to overturn the judge’s decision.