Monday, February 01, 2016

The Next Bad Republican Law To Be Overturned in Court?

Republicans in the NC General Assembly -- Rep. Jonathan Jordan and Sen. Dan Soucek voting right along with the crowd -- finally succeeded in passing an "Ag-Gag" law last summer (over Gov. Squishy's veto), only they made it worse ... much worse ... by making it illegal for any employee of any business, whether that business stomps chickens to death or mistreats bedridden seniors, from blowing the whistle on those practices.

The law originally got going because the chicken and turkey processing industry got a big black eye from hidden videos of the horrendous treatment of animals in those factories. So industry lobbyists induced the Republican leaders of the General Assembly to write a law making disclosures of horror  both illegal and "actionable" for the company (that is, Mr. Chicken Plucking Industry can sue your ass for damages if you reveal bad practices in his factory farm).

The General Assembly made it even worse by making the "gag" law apply to every business, including nursing homes, day care centers, half-way houses ... you name it!

According to the New York Times, no workplace gag law in the nation goes as far as North Carolina's, but then that's what we've been specializing in since 2011 in this state -- political extremism in the service of the rich and powerful.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Which of course puts this law firmly antithetical to existing State and Federal law REQUIRING anyone with knowledge of elder abuse to report it. The conclusion one draws is inevitable.