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Edit: Idaho tossing good $$$ after bad

An editorial in the Idaho Statesman comments that Idaho again is tossing good money after bad as it prepares to appeal a ruling against its unconstitutional ag-gag law:

We can’t think of any legitimate reason why the state of Idaho filed an appeal to overturn a federal ruling against the misguided ag-gag law, which was designed to thwart the secretive filming of agricultural practices and penalize whistleblowers with fines and possible jail time. This looks like another case of throwing good money after bad — more expense to try to rescue an unconstitutional bill that tramples the First Amendment and sends a message to consumers that Idaho has something to hide. More here.

Question: There ought to be a law that would require Gov. Butch Otter and his GOP legislative playmates to justify the expense before they can appeal an unconstitutional law, like the ag-gag one. Maybe we should require them to pay part of the legal costs of the eventual appeal loss. Thoughts?


Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/editorials/article50166795.html#storylink=cpy


D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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