cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/48270

In 2020, Iowa passed the latest legislation on the issue. One provision made it illegal for a person committing the act of trespassing on private property to place or use “a camera or electronic surveillance device that transmits or records images or data while the device is on the trespassed property.”

In 2021, a group of animal-rights organizations — including The Animal Legal Defense Fund and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — sued Iowa over the law, citing First Amendment violations. The organizations sought to block the enforcement of the state’s ban on unauthorized recordings while trespassing, arguing that the statute “impermissibly restricts speech by making it a crime to place an electronic surveillance device on trespassed property.”