Federal Judge Strikes Down Idaho ‘Ag-Gag Law’
I'm mixed on this.  For background, I'm from Idaho and the son of a dairyman in this state.  I know the intimate details of how this law came about, I know the dairyman whose operation was filmed, and I've seen the film.  From the viewpoint of the guys in ag, their concern is more about the lies that got spilled out over the initial film, and the death threats that came afterwards.<p>Couple of side facts: 
* some of the employees were rightfully jailed for animal cruelty.
* the dairyman in question has been receiving death threats ever since, even tho he is not personally responsible for the actions films, and he fired the offending employees soon after. (note, this is not a small dairyman, he has +300 employees, you can't personally monitor everyone all of the time).
* the film has been redubbed constantly to attack other operations -- even tho they weren't filmed.
* Most of the dairymen in this state are sole operators, or family owned.  If you say "corporate owned farm", you aren't talking about my region, or we have a difference of opinion as to what constitutes a corporation.<p>The Good:
* it was a bad law, it needed to be revoked, even the dairymen in this state were uneasy about it.  What got it passed quickly were all the death threats against the owner.  Lawmakers were very concerned about that spreading.<p>The Bad:
* The dairymen in the state aren't worried about filming, they are worried about lies coming from it.  Some groups are actively hell-bent against them.   I've seen them, I've talked with them.  The worst have no problem saying anything, because there won't be repercussions. 
* As most of the dairies are really sole operators, they are very concerned about their reputation and having that get away from them.  Often the dairymen see it as "someone else's lies against them in a world where no one is going to believe them".<p>I understand someone will see what I wrote and say I'm full of shit, oh well I guess.  But understand, these people are my friends and family.  I see and hear their struggles, and I watch them take care of their animals.  Most actually do care for them, but at the same time, have to struggle with running a business that depends on those animals.  You don't work with animals because you hate animals.