Court won’t revive ban on secret filming at slaughterhouses

(AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Kansas to revive a law that banned secret filming at slaughterhouses and other livestock facilities but that was struck down by lower courts. 

The justices did not comment Monday in leaving in place a ruling by a federal appeals court panel that the so-called ag-gag law violated the First Amendment by stifling speech critical of animal agriculture. 

The Kansas law made it a crime for anyone to take a picture or video at an animal facility without the owner’s consent or to enter the facility under false pretenses. 

Federal appeals courts considering similar laws in Iowa and Idaho had split over the issue.