The Case of Banning the Truth in a Public Park | First Amendment, Animal Agriculture & Free Speech

In this thought-provoking episode of the Animal Law Podcast, we dive into a First Amendment case that cuts straight to the heart of animal advocacy: can the government prevent activists from showing the public what actually happens to animals in industrial agriculture? Mariann speaks with Sara Berinhout of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) and John Greil of the University of Texas Law School’s Law and Religion Clinic about their representation of Daraius Dubash and Dr. Faraz Harsini. These dedicated animal advocates were arrested and threatened with arrest, respectively, for conducting a peaceful “Cube of Truth” demonstration in Houston’s Discovery Green park. Their crime? Simply showing silent documentary footage of standard farming practices. The case raises profound questions about whether the government can delegate its constitutional obligations to private entities, whether religious motivations for animal advocacy deserve special protection, and most importantly, whether the truth about animal agriculture is too disturbing to be seen in public spaces—even as those same spaces host barbecue festivals celebrating the end products of that system.

Key Points

• First Amendment and Animal Advocacy: The case challenges whether showing footage of standard factory farming practices is protected speech in public parks.
• Religious Freedom for Animal Activists: Daraius Dubash’s Hindu practice of ahimsa (non-violence) makes his animal advocacy a constitutionally protected religious expression.
• Public Parks and Free Speech: The lawsuit questions whether local governments can evade First Amendment obligations by delegating management of public spaces to private entities.
• Content-Based Censorship: Park officials explicitly prohibited the silent documentary footage (from the film Dominion) because of its content while allowing other forms of protest.
• The Paradox of Legal Cruelty: The government’s own characterization of the footage as showing “torture” highlights the contradiction—they acknowledge the fact that the footage communicates to viewers the disturbing nature of common practices while preventing the public from seeing them.

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Sara Berinhout is a First Amendment attorney at FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression), bringing expertise in constitutional law and free speech defense. A Harvard Law School magna cum laude graduate who clerked for Judge James C. Ho of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Berinhout previously practiced appellate litigation at Ropes & Gray LLP, where she specialized in complex civil litigation and white-collar defense, giving her unique insight into government restrictions on protected speech and religious expression in public forums.

John Greil is a Clinical Professor of Law who co-teaches the Law and Religion Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, specializing in First Amendment religious liberty cases and constitutional litigation. A Harvard Law School graduate and former clerk for Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Greil’s expertise in religious freedom law has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Religion News Service, and Texas Public Radio, making him a leading authority on the intersection of religious practice and animal advocacy under the Free Exercise Clause.

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