SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah will pay $349,000 to settle a lawsuit that overturned a law banning secret filming at farm and livestock facilities.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports the settlement will cover the costs of attorneys and others fees for animal-rights groups that challenged the 2012 law.
State attorneys had argued the law protected property rights and made agricultural workers safer by barring unskilled undercover operatives from potentially hazardous places.
It 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.
A federal judge ruled this summer that Utah’s law was unconstitutional and appeared tailored toward preventing undercover investigators from exposing abuses at agricultural facilities.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
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