News

September 27, 2022 In News

Des Moines Register: Judge strikes down 4th Iowa ‘ag-gag’ law in ongoing conflict over free speech vs. trespassing

A federal court has once again blocked Iowa's efforts to bar animal rights activists from gaining access to commercial livestock operations....

September 26, 2022 In News

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Judge says Iowa’s third ag-gag law is unconstitutional, like previous versions

For the third time in five years, a judge has struck down the Iowa Legislature’s efforts to criminalize the use of cameras in agriculture facilities and other businesses....

September 26, 2022 In News

Courthouse News: Federal judge strikes down latest version of Iowa ‘ag-gag’ law

A federal judge in Des Moines held Monday that the latest version of Iowa’ so-called “ag-gag” law aimed at preventing animal rights groups and journalists from video recording conditions in livestock facilities violates the First Amendment....

September 6, 2022 In News

Bloomberg Law: Appeals Court to Decide if Federal Judges Can Order OSHA to Act

A case over OSHA’s failure to cite a Pennsylvania-based meat processing plant for alleged Covid-19 health and safety violations is testing how far workers can go to address imminent dangers in the workplace....

August 30, 2022 In News

Law360: Racial Bias Suit Dropped After Aid Cut For Minority Farmers

A group of white farmers led by Texas' agriculture commissioner has abandoned its claim that a federal loan relief program for minority farmers is racially discriminatory, after President Joe Biden — in a move that drew scorn from social justice advocates — eliminated race as a factor in distributing that assistance....

August 17, 2022 In News

Reuters: Analysis: Biden debt relief plan disappoints Black farmers for avoiding race

Some Black farmers say they are disappointed by a new U.S. agriculture debt relief program that stands to save thousands of farmers from foreclosure, after the plan failed to specifically target minorities as they had hoped....

August 10, 2022 In News

Agri-Pulse: This time, USDA will have broad latitude to aid farm debtors

More than a year after courts forced the Agriculture Department to shut down a debt forgiveness program for minority farmers, Congress is set to give USDA wide open authority to aid borrowers of all races while providing additional aid to victims of past discrimination. ...

August 4, 2022 In News

Investigate Midwest: Congress could beef up meatpacking oversight this fall. But obstacles to enforcement remain

Bills introduced in the U.S. House and Senate would add lawyers in the USDA to prosecute complaints under the Packers and Stockyards Act. Experts and advocates have said the law has been weakened over the previous decades....

July 29, 2022 In News

Supermarket Perimiter: District of Columbia judge denies Smithfield lawsuit dismissal

A superior court judge in the District of Columbia denied Smithfield Food Inc.’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges the meat producer misrepresented to consumers that a US meat shortage was imminent at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020....