FL bill making farm photos a 1st-degree FELONY has me wondering what they're hiding in the barn

[nashville_brook]

Warning...graphic images follow the story. Do not scroll down if you ever plan to eat meat again.


Soon it could be a FIRST DEGREE FELONY punishable up to UP TO 30 YEARS IN PRISON and a $10,000 fine, to take a photograph of a cow in a field, or, more to the point, to document threats to the health and safety of anyone who eats food produced in Florida.

If anyone ever questioned the threat of speaking truth to power (or, in this case, evil), let this sink in: other examples of first degree felonies in Florida include rape, drug trafficking, kidnapping, child molestation, murder, and armed robbery. THAT is how threatening the truth is to these people


Read on...



http://floridaindependent.com/23574/jim-norman-bill-would-make-farm-photography-a-first-degree-felony-animal-rights-groups-outraged

Norman bill would make farm photography a first-degree felony; animal-rights groups outraged


A bill filed by state Sen. Jim Norman, R-Tampa, would make photographing farms without the written consent of the owner a first-degree felony in Florida. Senate Bill 1246, simply titled “Farms,” has caused a stir among animal-advocacy groups for comparing a potential whistleblower who might expose the realities of factory farming — or even a tourist snapping a photograph of cows grazing in a field — with those who commit murder or armed robbery.

“This bill is particularly outrageous, and frankly Sen. Norman should be ashamed of himself for even introducing a bill like this,” says Jeff Kerr, general counsel for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (aka PETA). The language of the bill, which is very brief, notes that video or photographic records taken “at or of a farm” would become illegal, and the guilty party could face the same penalties as a violent criminal — including a $10,000 fine and up to 30 years in prison.

“It’s beyond ridiculous, blatantly unconstitutional and clearly designed to protect animal abusers,” Kerr says. “He should be introducing bills to require cameras be in slaughterhouses and animal-raising facilities so the abusers can be identified and prosecuted, not protected behind closed doors.”

There are currently no mechanisms in place to monitor animal welfare on Florida’s farms, with inspections focusing on the food itself, not the conditions of the animals. Organizations such as PETA and the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida contend Norman drafted the legislation in response to a number of high-profile exposés that revealed horrific conditions on farms around the country, and worry that without whistleblowers the industry will operate with impunity.

“Whistleblowers play an important role in our society — exposing waste, fraud and abuse not just in agribusiness but in any industry,” Humane Society of the United States spokesman Paul Shapiro says. ”Agribusiness is notoriously secretive because many of its standard industry practices are so extreme, so cruel, that they are out of step with what mainstream American values would demand of our treatment of animals.”

(snip -- PLEASE go to the FLORIDA INDEPENDENT and read the rest of the story)


THIS IS WHAT they don't want you to see...


Because male chicks are useless eaters...



This is what factory chicken looks like -- the de-feathering is from stress and disease...



Ah, the cycle of life...



Why they have to use so many antibiotics in feed...



Best argument ever for backyard chickens...



Welcome to the Veal Pen -- you will never leave:




Yep, that's where I want my food to come from...

[northoftheborder]

1. Insane & ridiculous bill

But, after viewing those pictures above, maybe that's what they are trying to hide.

[villager]

2. Yup -- more of the rightwing war against the truth

...and desperate attempts to keep any of it from leaking/getting out...

[speltwon]

3. iirc, they hid superman's entry pod

in the barn.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

4. These are corporate written bills and that's the result of paying

big bucks to lobbyists. you get the best government that money can buy.

[nashville_brook]

17. you got that right -- and it's going to destroy this state...

i mean, this sort of thing has been the history of Florida. what's different now is that the stakes are much higher. the money is meaner. the fallout is more devastating to people and the environment.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Put the photographer in solitary and strip him. It's the only way to handle whistleblowers.

They're dangerous people threatening our republic with....knowledge.

[buddysmellgood]

6. That will never hold up in court. Why do they pursue the kind of crap?

[cui bono]

7. But it's not a felony to take nude photos of celebrities in their backyards.

Because people really need to see that!


This is like the law that made it illegal for a rancher to test cows for mad cow disease because he wanted to be able to state that as a selling point.

And the fight against labeling food as certified organic.

If the truth is so bad you don't want it shown or described then change it dammit! But of course it's more profitable to keep the people in the dark and get them sick while doing it.

[nashville_brook]

19. the Magical Free Market self-regulates...NEVER.

they'd sell maggot smoothies if they thought they could get away with it.

[Kievan Rus]

8. It's becoming increasingly obvious that only the rich and corporations matter anymore

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. I'm wondering when we're going to realize that if our government is allowing

us to eat these animals which are obviously in distress, it can only mean that our population has exceeded the healthy, available food supply.

[Lyric]

10. This bill is meant solely to keep animal welfare activists from documenting cruelty.

And it'll never pass constitutional muster, because there is no "copyright" to the view of your land from a public standing point. You might not be able to come ON to a farm and take photos, but there's no way that the SCOTUS (or even the Florida Supreme Court, for that matter) is going to say that people can't take pictures of private property when they're standing on public ground.

And there are implications far beyond just animal welfare groups. Imagine having your camera confiscated because you took a photo of a police officers beating someone--but the beating was happening on private farmland. Imagine wrecking your car into someone's private field and not being able to take photos of the accident scene for insurance and liability purposes. Imagine a farm tank that's leaking toxic chemicals into a stream, but the local watershed conservation group can't photograph it because the tank is on private property and the farmer (obviously) refuses to give permission.

This is a BAD precedent to set. I don't think that even the Roberts Court will go THIS far.

[nashville_brook]

13. damn good examples of unintended consequences.

the cops beating/camera confiscation thing reminds me of Raging In Miami's situation with photographing a scuffle down there. Can't remember how that shook out. I'll have to see if he has journal.

[Ratty]

11. I still eat meat

But just yesterday I was shopping in a discount store and saw a great deal on a huge package of frozen chicken. I was going to get it because the deal was huge and it would have kept me fed for a couple of weeks at least. Then I realized that a mega discount store was NOT the place I wanted to buy chicken. Ever. I realize it probably has antibiotics and whatnot but it wasn't health concerns that stopped me. I do not want to support the horrific practices of the chicken megacorporations. I will not be a party to that.

It is ugly. The images are grotesque and sickening and offensive. But everybody needs to see them once. People need to be informed about the choices they are making. This isn't something that needs to be hidden away in polite company.

I'm of the opinion that a whole lot of organic food isn't worth the price but the few times I eat chicken I always get it from the local guy selling at the farmer's market.

[nashville_brook]

12. i eat meat too -- and i'm like you, i don't buy the cheap chicken!!

[demodonkey]

16. You got it right... buy from your local farmer.

My father used to raise grass-fed beef and farm sustainably, long before we ever heard those words. He raised the animals in pastures (maybe a little grain, but all the grain was raised on the farm too), no antibiotics or hormones.

Buy locally! Your local farmer provides a cleaner, healthier product, and helps your local economy. Family farms mean more green space in the environment too!

[hifiguy]

14. Neal Horsley has got to be

at the root of this.

He doesn't want any pix of himself and his mule girlfriend that he didn't take himself.

[Angry Dragon]

15. RRR political scum

[damntexdem]

18. Or what missiles do they have in that silo?

;-)

[RebelOne]

20. After seeing these pix, I am glad I'm a vegetarian. n/t

[AmandaMae]

21. What they're doing at factory farms is the crime.

We have a bill like this being introduced here in Iowa too. I'm a vegan and it was seeing pictures and videos of factory farms that initially made me realize the truth about how our food is produced. How can it possibly be a "crime" to document abuses like those carried out at factory farms? This bill is absolutely disgusting.

[nashville_brook]

22. seriously -- what should be the 1st-degree felony, here?

if this isn't complete proof that the criminals are running the show, I don't know what is.

[Ignis]

23. K&R.

Thanks for helping keep this in the public eye. :thumbsup:

[nashville_brook]

26. absolutely. there's so much shit going down here in FL I don't know where to start

actually took my lunch time at work posting this b/c the Florida Independent article was so good. The Audubon Florida Legislative Alert newsletter that I just got in my email is overwhelming...and that's just environmental issues.

To wit:


Golf Courses Proposed for State Parks

A Clarification on Golf Course "Certification"
Both these bills refer to golf courses being certified by “Audubon International,” which some folks assume is us - the 110-year old conservation leader, Audubon of Florida. Not So!

Bills filed by Sen. John Thrasher (R-St. Augustine), and Rep. Pat Rooney (R-Palm Beach Gardens) dominated the environmental community this week. Senate Bill 1846 and House Bill 1239 would authorize a no-bid contract to build golf courses in five state parks, as well as limit the ability of state and local government regulators to oversee the projects. Only Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County was named specifically; the remaining parks, the bill proposes, would be selected for (1) their size, greater than 3000 acres and (2) proximity to interstates and/or metro areas. Champions of the proposal hail it as an economic development opportunity; funding would come from bonds sold against future profits from the courses. Editorial boards across the state are already speaking up, as are advocates like Audubon members.


Golf courses in State Parks?
Florida already has more golf courses than any other state, and many have fallen on hard times in recent years with declining use and revenues. Golf course irrigation often requires significant amounts of water, and fertilizer usage contributes to nutrient loading in waterways.




Florida Forever, Everglades Funding and Environmental Appropriations
Will the Legislature fund the premier land conservation program in Florida?

In the House, Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Committee members returned their first stab at budget cuts, which encouragingly were not as severe as those proposed in the Governor’s budget. It is still early days in the appropriations process, and it is not clear yet what the allocation will be for this committee (which will indicate the size of cuts leadership wants to make to environmental programs). Nevertheless, committee members in this first exercise demonstrated environmental leadership in the funding they included for programs like Florida Forever and Everglades Restoration. Other budget-related votes this week signal the Legislature is not willing to just “go along” with the cuts Scott prescribed. More on the committee meeting is posted on the Audubon of Florida News blog.

Thanks also to the folks who joined us for Florida Forever Day at the Capitol on March 8!



Fertilizer and Septic Tanks
Fertilizer runoff can harm Florida's rivers, lakes, streams and aquifers.
This Monday, Senate Agriculture temporarily postponed Senate Bill 606 by Sen. Greg Evers (R-Crestview), which would pre-empt local governments from protecting their waterways with fertilizer ordinances more stringent than the state’s model ordinance. The bill should be back next Monday morning in the Agriculture Committee’s next meeting.

Thursday, the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee discussed proposals by Chairman Charlie Dean (R-Inverness) to repeal septic tank inspection legislation passed in last year’s Senate Bill 550. Several committee members led by Sen. Dennis Jones (R-Seminole) raised concerns that this is a step backwards for water quality (read more here).

A properly maintained septic tank is critical in reducing bacteria in the Florida's drinking water supply.
Some vocal advocates turned out to object to the inspection requirement, yet one man’s testimony seemed to underscore the need for this regulation. He testified that his septic tank is 50 years old and his neighbor’s is 30 (The Florida Department of Health estimates the average functioning life of a septic tank at 20 years). He had only pumped it twice in its lifetime, and his neighbor’s tank had never been pumped (the EPA recommends pumping every 3-5 years).

Audubon is working to improve the language that will eventually move forward.



No Florida Leadership for Cap and Trade
FPL's new solar-thermal array in Martin County uses over 190,000 mirrors to generate heat.
Senate Bill 762 by Sen. Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) passed the Senate Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee Monday. This bill actually repeals the Florida Climate Protection Act of 2008, which laid the groundwork for the Department of Environmental Protection to develop a market-based emissions abatement program such as cap-and-trade in Florida. Next stop - Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation.

Also in 2008, legislation was passed to encourage renewable energy generation. Audubon’s efforts on that legislation bore fruit last Saturday when Audubon of Florida Executive Director Eric Draper helped open Florida Power and Light’s new hybrid solar energy facility in Martin County, a 75-megawatt solar thermal array that connects to an existing high-efficiency natural gas plant. Watch Audubon of Florida Executive Director Eric Draper's speech at the opening ceremony here. We look forward to working on legislation this year that will continue to move Florida towards a renewable energy future - it can be done!



Growth Management
What will Florida look like without a dynamic growth management process?
This week the House Community and Military Affairs Subcommittee released its draft growth management rewrite, which would fundamentally change the way that Florida land use decisions are made. By disempowering the Department of Community Affairs, the proposed bill’s provisions would speed the review process, reduce the ability of the public to challenge decisions, and place much of the decision making in the hands of local governments.

Meanwhile, Billy Buzzett, the new Secretary of the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), is proposing a much more reasonable approach to redesigning the state's Growth Management process. Buzzett's proposals would retain DCA review, but refocus it on issues primarily impacting the state's interests (such as major ecosystems) and shortening review timeframes. Download the (very large-sorry dial-up users!) draft bill here.

[flvegan]

24. Just going to push it further underground.

Leaving it to folks that are more motivated. More destructive.

[nashville_brook]

27. true -- and, it's not like ALL agribiz in FL wants this image

it's a public relations nightmare. who in their right mind would want to be associated with this sort of public image...that no one can see the conditions of their facilities. fuck, i'll just take anything with a "grown in Florida" label off my grocery list.

[Shagbark Hickory]

25. Republicans really know how to prioritize. Agrobusiness first.

As for the citizens, every man for himself.

[DirkGently]

28. Gee, why not just call it the Farm Atrocities Protection Act? This state has lost its f'n mind.

Don't forget the other shining star of FL's new legislative session -- taking land from state parks for GOLF COURSES. With attendant hotels, of course.

Jesus.

[JoeyT]

29. It isn't just animal abuse violations they don't want documented.

They don't want pictures of human rights violations against migrant workers floating around either.

Someone takes a snapshot of a woman that's visibly pregnant having to pick crops in 100+ degree heat, it can cause a bit of a PR problem. If you're donating to xenophobic Republican candidates, you don't want a picture of a field full of migrant workers floating around.

Edited to add: Large farms also produce a lot of shit (sometimes literally) that you aren't allowed to just pour on the ground. But it's a lot cheaper and easier to pour burned oil and the like than it is to dispose of it properly.

[nashville_brook]

30. omg -- you are so right. the human rights abuses in FL are legendary

from the Florida Farmworkers Association website:

http://www.floridafarmworkers.org


Did You Know?

Farmworkers suffer the highest rate of chemical-related illness of any occupational group (source: Environmental Protection Agency).

Agriculture is consistently ranked among the five most hazardous occupations by the U.S. Department of Labor.

In a single day’s labor during peak season, a typical farmworker handpicks, while leaning from a ladder, three and a half tons of oranges, or stoops to pick about 3,000 pounds of tomatoes (source: “Farmworkers in Southwest Florida: Final Report”, F. Roka, D. Cook).

In 2000, the median income for migrant and seasonal workers was $6,250, compared to $42,000 for U.S. workers overall (source: National Agricultural Workers Survey)

According to the 1997-98 findings of the National Agricultural Workers Survey, nearly three-quarters of U.S. farmworkers earn less than $10,000 per year and three out of five farmworker families have incomes below the poverty level

Though farmworker wages have increased slightly over the last decade, after adjustment for inflation, they have actually decreased by 5%. (National Center for Farmworker Health).

There is no protection under federal or state law for farmworkers to organize a union, work overtime, take sick leave, or for those who are laid off from their jobs.

According to the 1997-98 findings of the National Agricultural Workers Survey, the average age for farmworkers is 31; 80% are men; 84% speak Spanish; 12% are able to speak English; and the median level of education is the 6th grade.

A 2001 housing study found that 22% of farmworker housing units had serious structural problems, and 26% of the units were directly adjacent to pesticide-treated fields. The same study also found that 29% of farmworkers paid more than 30% of their income for housing. (National Center for Farmworker Health)

According to the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health, migrant health centers provide accessible care for farmworkers, but existing centers have the capacity to serve fewer than 20% of the nation’s farmworkers.

Exposure to the elements, pesticides, and dangerous equipment are common in farm labor. Falls, heat stress, dehydration, and pesticide poisoning are frequent injuries. However, agriculture is not subject to the safety legislation that protects workers in other industries. (National Center for Farmworker Health)

The EPA estimates that 300,000 farmworkers are poisoned by pesticides each year.

Hispanic-Latinos are now the largest racial minority in the U.S. and represent 14 percent of the nation’s total population (41.3 million), according to the U.S. Census Bureau data of September 2005. The data also projects that the Hispanic population as of July 1, 2050 will be 102.6 million. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 24 percent of the nation’s total population by that date.