Iowa’s 2019 Agricultural Trespassing law has been found unconstitutional by a Federal Court. Eldon McAfee, general counsel with the Iowa Pork Producers Association says the court determined the rule violates an individual’s first amendment rights.
He says for farmers this ruling provides mixed protection. It protects against trespassing on private property, but at the same time the court ruled it is legal to lie on a job application.
McAfee says the next step in the legal process is for the state to appeal the decision.
He also recommends producers that are hiring workers on their farm need to highly scrutinize possible applicants to protect their operations from undercover workers. This is the second challenge of the laws designed to protect agriculture from activist activities.
