RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday scaled back a lower-court ruling that threw out portions of a North Carolina law designed in part to prevent undercover employees at farms and other workplaces from taking documents or recording video.
A majority on the panel at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said the trial judge went too far in 2020 when striking down four provisions related to the potentially secretive activities, saying they violated the First Amendment.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder was considered a victory for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other animal rights groups, which had sued over the law passed by the General Assembly in 2015 and may use subterfuge to expose illegal or unethical conduct.
PETA has said it had wanted to conduct an undercover investigation at testing laboratories at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but decided against it because of fear of prosecution under what’s called the “Property Protection Act.”