Bill That Would Make Photographing a Farm a Crime in Florida is Back

By Kyle Munzenrieder Thu., Dec. 8 2011 at 11:53 AM

Categories: Politicks

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So you're in your friend's passenger seat cruising down I4 when you spot some cows grazing on farmland. You ask your friend to pull over for a second so you can whip out your iPhone and take a quick snapshot of the majestic bovines. Seems innocent enough? Well, Republican state Sen. Jim Norman thinks you are a criminal and should be punished as such.

After failing to pass a similar bill last session, Norman is back with a bill that would make it illegal to photograph or film a farm without the express written consent of the farm's owner. First amendment be damned.

Norman introduced a similar bill last year that would make it a felony to photograph a farm. That bill was ultimately unsuccessful, so this year's edition, SB1184, would only make it a misdemeanor.

Of course, the bill isn't really aimed at punishing people who just want to take pictures of cute cows, but rather animal rights group looking to gather evidence of animal mistreatment.

"Once again, Senator Norman has sided with the owners of factory farms in Florida to prevent the public from learning how animals are treated inside intensive confinement facilities," said Nick Atwood, campaign coordinator of Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. "The bill also does a disservice to Florida consumers. Recent undercover investigations at farms have led not only to important improvements in the welfare of animals but also in food safety."

[via Naked Politics]

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everybody knows they get a weekly check from communist russiar.
Another restaurant cliaimed to use fresh mozz arella cheese,where it's dishes were actually made with economy cheddar.the "fresh pasta"advertieshed on another meau tumed out to be frozen.--Agedate. c0m --a nice and free place for younger women and older men,or older women and younger men,to interact with each other.
Another restaurant cliaimed to use fresh mozz arella cheese,where it's dishes were actually made with economy cheddar.the "fresh pasta"advertieshed on another meau tumed out to be frozen.--Agedate. c0m --a nice and free place for younger women and older men,or older women and younger men,to interact with each other.
Another restaurant cliaimed to use fresh mozz arella cheese,where it's dishes were actually made with economy cheddar.the "fresh pasta"advertieshed on another meau tumed out to be frozen.--Agedate. c0m --a nice and free place for younger women and older men,or older women and younger men,to interact with each other.
Another restaurant cliaimed to use fresh mozz arella cheese,where it's dishes were actually made with economy cheddar.the "fresh pasta"advertieshed on another meau tumed out to be frozen.--Agedate. c0m --a nice and free place for younger women and older men,or older women and younger men,to interact with each other.
Quote" On the other hand, what does the animal activist have to gain by defending a helpless, voiceless, suffering animal? NOTHING! These people are performing one of the MOST altruistic acts a human being can - helping another being for no reward but knowing that you're alleviating their suffering. THAT is worthy of respect - NOT making a profit off of a living being's suffering and death!" Oh how that makes me chuckle. Do you know where these "activist" get their money from? Do you ever wonder where these "activist" are employed and what they do to earn their bread and butter? Do you ever wonder where all the money goes that the HSUS gets from people of your ilk? Do a little research and see if you can dredge up the truthful answers, not the ones you will get from these "great humanitarians."
Research who it is that post the most information about KFC and what their agenda towards KFC is/was. I doubt you will find fair and equal coverage.
PETA paid some guys to poach a bear and filmed the "hunters" and dogs attacking and killing the Bear. Said it was undercover and was later to be found out that they actually paid for it all to happen. The film was used to help legislation to ban Bear and Cat hunting with dogs. People will vote emotion over reality and science. A bunch of eco-freaks showed a large mud flat covered in stumps claiming it was what happened after a clear cut logging operation. What they did not tell the public was they where standing in the nearly empty reservoir of a drawn down lake which would yes, be a mud covered clear cut. Disinformation and blatant lies to bolster their agenda, damn the truth and reality.
i'd ask for pictures but pictures of spam are probably illegal in Fla.
sure it is - not just free speech but free press
Animal Welfare or Animal Rights? Here are some of the differences: As animal welfare advocates. . . · We seek to improve the treatment and well-being of animals. · We support the humane treatment of animals that ensures comfort and freedom from unnecessary pain and suffering. · We believe we have the right to “own” animals — they are our property. · We believe animal owners should provide loving care for the lifetime of their animals. As animal rights activists. . . · They seek to end the use and ownership of animals, including the keeping of pets. · They believe that any use of an animal is exploitation so, not only must we stop using animals for food and clothing, but pet ownership must be outlawed as well. · They want to obtain legal rights for animals as they believe that animals and humans are equal. · They use false and unsubstantiated allegations of animal abuse to raise funds, attract media attention and bring supporters into the movement. · (The Inhumane Crusade, Daniel T. Oliver – Capital Research Center) For more information: http://www.cfodconline.org/ www.humanewatch.com www.bewareanimalradicals.com http://www.petpac.net/ http://www.exposeanimalrights.com/ www.naiaonline.org www.saveourdogs.net www.nathanwinograd.com www.saova.org
Jeannine since when did you live on a farm and take care of cows. Milk is inspected and fed to the farmers families. If you think they would do that to their own families then you have bought the bill of lies from HSUS AND PETA both organizations live on the money you give and do nothing for animals at all.
NO, you have bought into the animal rights lies. Their goal is to end all use of animals for any purpose and they make a lot of money doing so. Also without VB12 they can control you. Without active VB12 found only in meat your brain becomes irrational and you behave in an overemotional nonrational manner. That is why all cults try to remove meat protein from your diet.
Yes, PeTA and HSUS in fact have been found by the courts to pay people for this abuse and to bear false witness against farmers and other pet owners. The German HIgh court found PeTA guilty of paying a man to skin a seal alive and they have asked for the names and addresses of all persons appearing in PeTA videos. PeTA has yet to comply. PeTA edits the videos and often the investigators are the ones who perform this abuse. Laws such as this are needed by farmers to protect their animals from these animal rights cult members who will do anything to harass those who own animals. They can slander anyone about any issue and then the pet owner or farmer has no recourse. This was why Hitler started the animal rights movement because it allowed him to put in prison anyone just by making an accusation. Michael Pollen the author admitted to lying about the care of the animals by the farmer he supposedly followed for a year before writing his book. Grow up people and recognize that you are part of biology and all animals eat other animals. You cannot survive without the essential nutrients found in meat. One third of all human beings cannot eat grains without becoming ill. Too many vegan children have died from malnutrition. This cult is dangerous to our economy and our health.
When your family dies after dinner one day you will wish you had put this republican bull sh it in check.
must be something gadoful wrong with you cos you're hawking youseff here..I'll do you for a case of Kielbasa and 2liters of Heineken.
Two words for you: Dairy Farm Go to Wisconsin and try your American retard shtick on some dairy farmers. I dare you.
I am usually pretty articulate but I'm not even sure where to begin with this so I am just going to shake my head and laugh at you.
Even more disturbing: American retards don't know that only ranches have livestock, not FARMS.
What does the farmer have to gain by allowing animals to live in filth and infection? MORE MONEY. They don't care if an animal is suffering, particularly near the end and during transit because they're off to the slaughterhouse anyway. As long as they can get them delivered, they get PAID. That's why there are so many horrific examples of "downed" animals being abused - because they just want to force them into the pens so they can hand them over for their money. On the other hand, what does the animal activist have to gain by defending a helpless, voiceless, suffering animal? NOTHING! These people are performing one of the MOST altruistic acts a human being can - helping another being for no reward but knowing that you're alleviating their suffering. THAT is worthy of respect - NOT making a profit off of a living being's suffering and death!
They're EDITING IN ABUSE? Oh, that's LAUGHABLE!!! If they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to worry about!!! But preventing the legal system from being able to prosecute CRIMINAL ACTIVITY is utterly STUPID! Tell me, what exactly do you think animal rights activists have to gain by LYING about cruelty? And what do YOU gain by defending CRUELTY? YOU are the one who is totally immoral and unethical and YOU should be kept under photographic watch because it sounds like you can't be trusted either!
Ms. Desborough, YOU should use some common sense. WHY would a farmer or animal breeder mistreat animals??? Because it's MORE PROFITABLE TO DO SO!!! There are THOUSANDS of cases of animal abuse at both factory and "family" farms EVERY YEAR to PROVE it. There is VIDEO EVIDENCE in most cases, if not legal evidence by those who witnessed it or worked for the local humane societies. You have bought into a very old marketing campaign that recalls pastoral scenes of what farming was back in the 1800s - but that is certainly NOT what it is today!
Why in the world would it make sense for a farmer or any serious animal breeder to mistreat the animals? If you know ANYTHING about animals, you have to know that mistreatment would result in stress. Stress results in bacterial infections. Infections result in sick animals. Sick animals are not saleable animals. Got it? Then, add to that the fact that most farmers are farming because they LIKE to do that work...to work outdoors and to spend time with various kinds of livestock. Why is it that people who do not live on farms always imagine that farmers are mistreating animals? Something strange about that. Now, should we start imagining that all parents are mistreating their children because a few unstable individuals do mistreat their children? Use common sense here.
Are you really saying that all animals in all farms are treated properly? I am sure if you dig around enough, you can find some evidence to back your claim of falsifying of evidence. However, I suspect if you were to take a deeper look you would find much more evidence proving that farms should be checked / regulated to ensure the animals are being treated fairly. Ever heard of KFC? Go do a little research...
Let me back up BB with scholastic philosophy. Souls. Minerals like rocks and water - no souls. Plants grow and reproduce hence they have vegetative souls. Animals like cows grow, reproduce, and have senses hence their souls are not only vegetative but (pause… hold on… wait for it…) SENTIENT! Human souls are not only vegetative and sentient, but also rational. Some one just got served by a philosophy geek! Waddup?!
Sentient beings feel and suffer. How is a cow not sentient?
so they'll prolly come for you cos your ex sez you took pitchers of the heffers
Since when are cows sentient?
I heard of this before....they want to stop hippies from getting evidence of animal cruelty.....
This is not a first amendment issue.
Senator Jim Norman is performing a public service with this bill. Since there have been so many animal rights radicals taking photos and videos of farm animals and then EDITING them to show abuse, this bill makes sense. In Ohio there was even an instance of an animalr rights group PAYING a farm worker to abuse animals so the abuse can be filmed. This kind of behavior is notorious and is even done in other countries in order to cause a public uproar and create an image of abusive farming practices. Common sense should prevail in the public mind, but it often clouded by emotion as most of us do not want any animal abuse to occur. If people understand farming, they will know that it is NOT in the interest of a farmer to abuse his animals. Abused animals are stressed and unhealthy. Most farmers are doing this work because they enjoy it. Certainly, in terms of man hours, farming is a lot of work and farmers do deserve the right to protect their farms from photographs by animal rights radicals intent on defamation and destruction of agriculture. Since the majority of the public no longer have a background of growing up on a farm, they have no contextual information about animal husbandry practices and thus can be easily misguided with photographs.
People who want to make it illegal to show what is really happening in animal farms obviously have a lot to hide. They know that the public would be outraged if they knew what was really going on. We need to do everything we can to keep freedom of speech legal and people shouldn't be allowed to secretly abuse animals.
I'm a Republican, and I can tell you that this numb skull Norman doesn't represent the interests of his constituents, or the Republican party. All Norman cares about is pandering to the lobbyists that are padding his bank account. The same can be said about a lot of Democrats as well.
Republicans.
hehe Good question! I doubt it could ever pass. "First amendment be damned." So says Miami New Times and they are most correct.
Maybe scumator norman needs to be farmed for a while.simply awful ..
What a low life sneak ! lining his pockets from agri business. It's not going to pass this time either. Who votes for these kind of people ?
Scumbags. How can we hinder this bill from becoming law?
Norman's an asshole. People have a right to eat what they want, but equally to be aware of what it is they are eating to make sure they really want to. Pig farms are often rampant with MRSA, and dairy cows often have udders so badly infected that pus and milk are being squeezed out together. Not to mention that if the public was more aware of the intense cruelty these sentient beings endure, many would be hard-pressed to deny reform. On a political note, if Norman cares so little for animals and food safety, how much can he care about human rights issues? He's probably in bed with Big Agri, and his pockets are being lined. To make photography of criminal acts against animals a crime in and of itself, it thus provides for making the evidence inadmissable. How clever is that? Yet how tragic for animals that deserve humane treatment, and people that deserve safe sources of food.
Put Carlos Miller on the case.