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Haslam To Veto Ag Gag Bill

Governor's Office, February 2012.

Knoxville, Tenn. - Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam will issue the second veto of his term on a controversial bill centered on livestock abuse.                                                 

The bill would have made it illegal to video or photograph livestock abuse without turning in the evidence within 48 hours.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee submitted 34,000 signatures urging a veto earlier this month; executive director HedyWeinburg says she commends Haslam's decision. 

“There were many, many voices asking him to veto the bill and at the same time the governor recognized the serious implications for at least two fundamental rights that are protected, and that is freedom of expression and freedom of press.”

Haslam says he thinks the bill could be improved in future legislative sessions but that the state attorney general says the current version is constitutionally suspect.