OF BANANA BILLS AND VEGGIE HATE CRIMES - THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF AGRICULTURAL DISPARAGEMENT STATUTES

In the wake of the 1989 controversy surrounding the report on the tele vision show ''60 Minutes'' about the chemical Alar and its negative ef fect on the sale of apples in Washington, a number of states passed la ws making it an actionable tort to unjustifiably criticize food produc ed in those jurisdictions. In this Article, David Bederman, Scott Chri stensen, and Scott Quesenberry examine the constitutionality of these agricultural disparagement statutes, first by exploring common law tra de disparagement and then by highlighting different First Amendment co ncerns, The authors conclude that these statutes pose a major challeng e not only to established common law rules of trade disparagement, but also to constitutional principles under the First Amendment.