In a split decision the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling that North Carolina’s “ag-gag law” is unconstitutional and infringes on free speech.
The three-judge panel ruled 2-1: Justices Henry Floyd and Albert Diaz, both appointed by President Obama, wrote for the majority. Judge Allison Jones Rushing, an appointee of President Trump, issued a dissent.
At issue was the “Property Protection Act,” passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2015. It allowed courts to assess civil fines on employees who took videos or photos — or even took handwritten notes — of a business’s non-public areas to document alleged wrongdoing, and then passed that information to anyone besides the employer or law enforcement. The fines were hefty: $5,000 per day, plus attorney’s fees.
While bill supporters argued that it protected businesses from the theft of trade secrets, its underlying intent was to thwart animal rights activists from getting hired at farms and research labs and then conducting undercover investigations.
Then-Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, vetoed the bill because he believed it would discourage employees, such as those working in nursing homes, from reporting illegal activities. Lawmakers overrode the veto.
There were multiple plaintiffs who sued the state over the measure: the ASPCA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, United Farm Workers and Food & Water Watch.
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