Utah won’t appeal a decision striking down a law banning secret filming at farm and livestock facilities.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office says in court documents they’re not planning to challenge the ruling that found the law violated freedom of speech.
It was passed amid a wave of similar measures around the country known as “ag-gag” rules, including one in Idaho that was struck down last year. That ruling is being appealed.
U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby decided in July that Utah’s law was unconstitutional and appeared tailored toward preventing undercover investigators from exposing abuses at agricultural facilities.
State attorneys had argued it protected property rights and made agricultural workers safer by barring unskilled undercover operatives from potentially hazardous places