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Jan. 23, 2020Wichita, Kan. |  By: AP

Court: Kansas "Ag-Gag" unconstitutionally bans free speech

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that provisions in a Kansas law that ban the secret filming at slaughterhouses and other livestock facilities unconstitutionally criminalize free speech.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil mostly sided on Wednesday with a coalition of animal rights and consumer protection groups which had challenged the state's "Ag-Gag" law, which was enacted in 1990.

The law makes it a crime for anyone to take a picture or video at animal facilities without the owner's consent or to enter them under false pretenses. The judge says the Kansas law only targets negative views about animal facilities.