Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Otter

• Citation: 118 F.Supp.3d 1195
• Decision Date: 03 August 2015
• Docket Number: Case No. 1:14–cv–00104–BLW.
• Parties: ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, et al., Plaintiffs, v. C.L. Butch OTTER, in his official capacity as Governor of Idaho; and Lawrence Wasden, in his official capacity as State of Idaho, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Idaho

118 F.Supp.3d 1195

ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.C.L. Butch OTTER, in his official capacity as Governor of Idaho; and Lawrence Wasden, in his official capacity as State of Idaho, Defendants.

Case No. 1:14–cv–00104–BLW.

United States District Court, D. Idaho.

Signed Aug. 3, 2015.

Justin F. Marceau, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Denver, CO, Maria E. Andrade, Andrade Legal, Inc., Richard Alan Eppink, American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho Foundation, Boise, ID, Matthew G. Liebman, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Cotati, CA, Matthew Daniel Strugar, Los Angeles, CA, Leslie Brueckner, Public Justice, P.C., Oakland, CA, Paige M. Tomaselli, Center For Food Safety, San Francisco, CA, for Plaintiffs.

Clay R. Smith, Office of Attorney General, Carl J. Withroe, Idaho Attorney General, Boise, ID, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

B. LYNN WINMILL, Chief Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Last year, Mercy for Animals, a Los Angeles-based animal rights' group, released a video of workers using a moving tractor to drag a cow on the floor by a chain attached to her neck and workers repeatedly beating, kicking, and jumping on cows. Pls.' SOF ¶ 1. The video was recorded at the Bettencourt Dairies' Dry Creek Dairy in Hansen, Idaho. Id. Mercy for Animals secretly captured the abuse while conducting an undercover investigation of the dairy. Naerebout Aff. ¶ 7, Dkt. 16–2. The video drew national attention. Id. ¶ 2.

The Idaho Dairymen's Association, a trade industry organization that represents every dairy farmer and producer in the state, responded to the negative publicity by drafting and sponsoring a bill that became Idaho Code § 18–7042. The bill proposed criminalizing the types of undercover investigations that exposed the activities at the Dry Creek Dairy.

According to the bill's supporters, the Mercy for Animals investigator who made the video at the Dry Creek Dairy "failed to immediately report [the abuse] to the dairy operator or to local or state authorities ..., allowing additional animal abuse to occur and depriving the animals of immediate care and treatment." Naerebout Aff. ¶ 10, Dkt. 16–2. The investigator instead gave his recordings to Mercy for Animals, which "provided edited recordings to the Idaho State Department of Agriculture ("ISDA")." Id. The ISDA immediately investigated and informed the dairy owner of the abuse. After the ISDA finished its investigation, Mercy for Animals published the video and urged at least one of the dairy owner's customers to stop buying milk products supplied by the dairy owner. Id.

After the outcry the Mercy for Animals' publicized video produced in the dairy industry, the Idaho legislature passed the bill quickly. It was signed by Governor Otter on February 14, 2014, and it was eventually codified as Idaho Code § 18–7042. Pls.' SOF ¶ 6, Dkt. 75.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, as well as various other organizations and individuals, (collectively, "ALDF"), challenge Idaho Code § 18–7042 as unconstitutional. ALDF alleges that § 18–7042 has both the purpose and effect of stifling public debate about modern agriculture "by (1) criminalizing all employment-based undercover investigations; and (2) criminalizing investigative journalism, whistleblowing by employees, or other expository efforts that entail images or sounds." Compl. ¶ 14, Dkt. 1. Based on these allegations, ALDF's complaint raises two substantive constitutional challenges against the State—violation of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment—as well as preemption claims under three different federal statutes. Id. ¶¶ 144–68.

ALDF moves for summary judgment on their First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause claims—their first, second, and fourth causes of action (Dkt. 74). For the reasons set forth below, the Court will grant ALDF's motion.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF DECISION

Idaho Code § 18–7042 creates the new crime, "interference with agricultural production." I.C. 18–7042. A person commits the crime of interference with agricultural production if the person knowingly:

(a) is not employed by an agricultural production facility and enters an agricultural production facility by force, threat, misrepresentation or trespass;

(b) obtains records of an agricultural production facility by force, threat, misrepresentation or trespass;

(c) obtains employment with an agricultural production facility by force, threat, or misrepresentation with the intent to cause economic or other injury to the facility's operations ...

(d) Enters an agricultural production facility that is not open to the public and, without the facility owner's express consent or pursuant to judicial process or statutory authorization, makes audio or video recordings of the conduct of an agricultural production facility's operations; or

(e) Intentionally causes physical damage or injury to the agricultural production facility's operations, livestock, crops, personnel, equipment, buildings or premises.

I.C. § 18–7042(1)(a)-(e).

In passing § 18–7042, Idaho legislators described the concerns they believe the types of undercover investigations criminalized by the statute pose to the agricultural industry in Idaho. One senator compared animal rights investigators to "marauding invaders centuries ago who swarmed into foreign territory and destroyed crops to starve foes into submission." Pls.' SOF ¶ 8, Dkt. 75. During a committee hearing, the same senator compared undercover investigations to "terrorism, [which] has been used by enemies for centuries to destroy the ability to produce food and the confidence in the food's safety." Senator Patrick, Wall Decl., Ex. A, p. 81, lns. 1–8. Defending the legislation, this senator also said, "This is the way you combat your enemies." Senator Patrick, Wall Decl., Ex. A, p. 81, lns. 7–8.

Members of the House of Representatives similarly stated that their support for the bill stemmed from a need to protect members of the dairy industry from undercover investigators. One representative described undercover investigators as "extreme activists who want to contrive issues simply to bring in the donations." Representative Bateman, Wall Decl., Ex. D, p. 4, lns. 5–7. Another representative accused animal rights activists of taking the dairy industry hostage and seeking to persecute them in the court of public opinion. Representative Batt, Wall Decl., Ex. D, p. 2, lns. 17–19.

The drafter of the legislation, Dan Steenson, likewise expressed a desire to shield Idaho dairymen and other farmers from undercover investigators and whisteblowers who expose the agricultural industry to "the court of public opinion": "The most extreme conduct that we see threatening Idaho dairymen and other farmers occurs under the cover of false identities and purposes, extremist groups implement vigilante tactics to deploy self-appointed so-called investigators who masquerade as employees to infiltrate farms in the hope of discovering and recording what they believe to be animal abuse."Mr. Steenson, Wall Decl., Ex. C, p. 8, lns. 25–26, p. 9, lns. 1–3. Steenson continued by criticizing such groups for publishing their recordings and calling for boycotts: "After the infiltrator's work is done, the vigilante operation assumes the role of prosecutor in the court of public opinion by publishing edited recordings and advocating that the farmer's customers go elsewhere." Mr. Steenson, Wall Decl., Ex. C, p. 9, lns. 4–6.

Another supporter of the bill called the groups terrorists and insinuated that their investigations were defamatory: "This is about exposing the real agenda of these radical groups that are engaging in farm terrorism. Activists use intimidating tactics to damage the business of the producers and their customers. These farm terrorists use media and sensationalism to attempt to steal the integrity of the producer and their reputation, and their ability to conduct business in Idaho by declaring him guilty in the court of public opinion." Mr. VanderHulst, Wall Decl., Ex. C, p. 30, lns. 3–8.

Based upon these assumptions, the legislators drafted and passed a law creating a criminal felony offense for activities that facilitate undercover investigations at agricultural facilities. Under the law, a journalist or animal rights investigator can be convicted for not disclosing his media or political affiliations when requesting a tour of an industrial feedlot, or applying for employment at a dairy farm. I.C. § 18–7042(1)(a), (c). An employee can be convicted for videotaping animal abuse or life-threatening safety violations at an agricultural facility without first obtaining the owner's permission. I.C. § 18–7042(1)(d). Any person who violates the law—whether an animal rights' investigator, a journalist, or an employee—faces up to a year in jail. In addition, a journalist or whistleblower convicted under the law can be forced to pay publication damages pursuant to a restitution provision that requires payment for "twice" the "economic loss" a business suffers as a result of any exposé revealing animal abuse or unsafe working conditions. Id. § 18–7042(4).

In other words, § 18–7042 seeks to limit and punish those who speak out on topics relating to the agricultural industry, striking at the heart of important First Amendment values. The effect of the statute will be to suppress speech by undercover investigators and whistleblowers concerning topics of great public importance: the safety of the public food supply, the safety of agricultural workers, the treatment and health of farm animals, and the impact of business activities on the environment. Indeed, private party media investigations, such as investigative features on 60 Minutes, are a common form of politically salient speech. A review of Idaho media reports in recent years reveals a range of undercover investigations from life on the streets, to wolf-hunting contests, to family-planning services, to public-school safety. Pls.' SOF ¶¶ 35–38. Such...