Reader Submission: North Carolina has an all-gag bill


“North Carolina does not have an ag-gag bill,” blogs the Fayette Observer,  claiming that an ag-gag bill must be specific to the agriculture industry. The bill language of SB 648 does not have a different intent from the ag-gag bills that have popped up (and been smacked down) in a dozen states this year. North Carolina’s SB 648 has the same intent as every other ag-gag bill – to halt whistleblowing investigations.

SB 648 is merely broader than other ag-gag bills; it is not narrowly tailored to shield the ag industry. It would prevent whistleblowing investigations into illegal or unethical activity at any place of employment.

The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce is pushing this legislation on behalf of the poultry industry, which is retaliating against the types of organizations who exposed egregious abuse just last year.

In 2012, Mercy for Animals released a whistleblowing exposé of Butterball facilities. Conditions were filthy and workers were violently cruel and criminally neglectful of the animals in their charge.

Undercover, whistleblowing investigations would be criminalized by SB 648, whether the Chamber admits to targeting them or not.