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 offense 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 Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle to overturn the judge's decision.
(by Associated Press)
