At the request of the Animal Legal Defense Fund and other organizations, a federal judge recently struck down an Idaho law that made it a crime to conduct undercover investigations and videotape operations at an agricultural production facility without the owner's permission. People working undercover could also have been convicted for not disclosing their connections to animal welfare groups or media outlets when seeking employment at such a facility. The ruling was the right one. It's simply bad policy to tailor the law to protect a favored industry from scrutiny.
The Idaho law is one of a passel of so-called ag-gag laws passed in eight states.