Judge orders Idaho to pay $250,000 in "ag-gag" law fallout

[n2doc]

BOISE, Idaho - A judge has ordered Idaho to pay nearly $250,000 in legal fees following a lawsuit and ultimate repeal against Idaho’s “ag-gag’ law.

The law that outlawed undercover investigations of operations at farms was found to have violated the First and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

The motion filed by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and a coalition of national nonprofits was approved by District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

"The American public has a right to know when the meat industry is breaking the law, and Idaho's 'ag-gag' law was a blatant violation of free speech," general counsel to PETA Jeffrey Kerr wrote in a press release. "This ruling is a warning to other states that PETA will challenge 'ag-gag' laws, we will win, and it will be costly for the state."


more

http://www.kivitv.com/news/judge-orders-idaho-to-pay-250000-in-ag-gag-law-fallout

Too bad they can't take it out of the pockets of the reps that voted this law in.

[IDemo]

1. Idaho's slush fund for defending these cases continues to drain

Idaho's Legal Fund To Be Drained Further After Lost Lawsuit

Idaho’s Constitutional Defense Council will meet Wednesday. The members will be asked to spend money to pay for a lost legal case. Recent court cases have drained the fund considerably this year.

Idaho will now use the fund to pay for a $70,000 bill for attorney fees and costs in the Madelynn Taylor case. Taylor sued the state for permission to be buried with her late wife in the Idaho Veterans Cemetery. The cemetery refused because of Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage. Gay marriage became legal a year ago and this year Taylor got a permanent injunction barring the state from keeping the couple apart after death.
...
In August, three other lost legal cases subtracted nearly $900,000 from the fund. In those, Idaho lost its fight to ban gay marriage, had an abortion law overturned and lost a fight on a no-camping rule in the Occupy Boise case. Earlier this year, the state also paid out $400,000 in its unsuccessful fight against gay marriage.

Idaho Governor Butch Otter has defended the lawsuits, saying in every case, the state was defending statutes or its constitution. Some critics, though, accuse a state government that prides itself on fiscal conservatism of wasting taxpayer money on long-shot legal cases.

http://boisestatepublicradio.org/post/idahos-legal-fund-be-drained-further-after-lost-lawsuit

[Scientific]

2. These ag-gags are all Republican-ALEC crcorporate fascist laws designed to keep Americans ignorant

These evil ag-gag laws need to be repealed all across the nation. They have been rammed into law by amoral grifter Republicans with their hands out for corporate welfare. These so-called laws are hiding a lot of ugly truths about what big corporations are doing to our food. Republicans always try to hide the truth from the light of day.