SALT LAKE CITY (AP) β Animal rights groups are challenging in court Utah's law banning secret filming of slaughterhouses and other agricultural facilities Tuesday after a similar measure was struck down in Idaho.
The activists say the Utah law that was passed amid a wave of similar measures around the country is designed to keep them from exposing inhumane or unsafe practices at places such as factory farms.
The state of Utah says it doesn't violate any constitutional protections and still allows filming from public places while also allowing abuse reports from whistleblowers. The measure makes the facilities safer by barring unskilled undercover operatives, state attorneys argue.
The hearing comes after a judge in Idaho found a similar law violates the First Amendment β a win for activists that they're aiming to repeat in eight states with similar rules.
Idaho is appealing that ruling.
At least five people have been charged under the Utah law since it was passed in 2012, though those cases have since been dropped.
Four were animal activists from California who were cited outside a large Iron County hog farm in 2015. The charges were later dropped because the farm didn't want to pursue them.
A woman who faced a misdemeanor count after being accused of filming a front-end loader dumping a sick cow outside a slaughterhouse in 2013 is a plaintiff in the case challenging the law, along with Animal Legal Defense Fund and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Media groups have also joined the lawsuit, saying the law violates the First Amendment.
The Animal Agriculture Alliance, U.S. Poultry and Egg Association and other groups have lined up to support the state.
