Fw: Bill passed Senate - stop in HOUSE- no more rights to speak for animals!!!!!!

[Guest guest]

Saturday, November 11, 2006 6:00 PM

Bill passed Senate-stop in HOUSE-no more rights to speak for animals!!!!!!

 

PLEASE CROSS POST!!!!

 

THIS BILL is scheduled to be FAST TRACKED, and up for NOV. 14, 2006. READ

the attorney's information. The links are in her letter to write your

representatives. Very easy. Please take a moment to do so!!!!!

 

Lisa

 

Saturday, November 11, 2006 4:33 PM

This is absolutely absurd!!!!!!!

 

 

This moronic bill was authored by Sen. Diann Feinstein of California, and

has already been unanimously been passed by the U.S. Senate. It MUST be

stopped in the House.

 

Please read below what can happen if we are denied the right to speak out

against cruel enterprises to animals...

 

 

Animal Welfare's Legal Battle

 

By Alicyn Leigh 11/09/2006 3:27 pm

 

 

 

Smithtown attorney Amy L. Chaitoff

says AETA bill would criminalize the work

of animal welf are activists.

 

 

Animal welfare issues, unfortunately are not part of our everyday news

reports. Attorney Amy L. Chaitoff, who practices in Smithtown, is trying to

change that, by creating awareness regarding the Animal Enterprise Terrorism

Act (AETA).

 

“This bill proposes to amend Title 18 U.S.C. 43, known as the Animal

Enterprise Protection Act,†explains Chaitoff. “This proposed

amendment

effectively erodes the First Amendment right to freedom of speech by

labeling and punishing people as terrorists simply for speaking out on

behalf of animals and against the inhumane and cruel business practices

employed by many animal-related enterprises.

 

This includes the majority of the animal welfare community, such as

organizations working to create lawful change via boycotts, education,

protests, petitions, investigations and lawsuits. The AETA bill is

'extremely broad and overly vague on what constitutes terrorism under the

act', she says.

 

For example, the bill text appears to exclude lawful economic disruption

that results from lawful public, governmental, or business reaction to the

disclosure of information about an animal enterprise. However, the term

lawful is not defined, leaving interpretation to the court. The AETA could

make it illegal to expose cruel conditions existing at animal-related

enterprises such as factory farms, puppy mills, and research labs, if

exposing the conditions causes economic damage to the enterprise.

 

The AETA bill could label these people as terrorists, and they could face

thousands of dollars in fines and severe jail time, including a 10-year jail

sentence if the animal-related industry loses $100,000.

 

This bill could paralyze the ability of the animal welfare movement to

create change through civil disobedience and education.

 

Under the current law, it is not clear if such positive icons of change such

as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. would not have been classified

as terrorists, Chaitoff maintains. In addition, there are organizations that

investigate animal-related corporations and medical labs to gain much-needed

evidence that these facilities are breaking the law.

 

The legislation supports " corporations that make billions yearly from the

slaughter and sale of animals; puppy-mill breeders that sell puppies at pet

stores; and research and medical labs that test cosmetics, household

cleaning products, toxins and diseases on animals, " explains Chaitoff.

 

Said businesses are subject to activism because of unsanitary living

conditions, inhumane handling and treatment of animals, and unnecessary and

painful experiments.

 

" But this bill has everything to do with the animal industries' desire to go

virtually unoppos ed by animal welfare groups and protect against losing

profits as a result of animal welfare activist intervention, " says Chaitoff.

 

The AETA bill has passed unanimously in the U.S. Senate. The bill is now

currently before the U.S. House of Representatives for approval. Please

write to your congressman and ask that they oppose this bill.

 

You can find your representative by going to: http://www.house.gov, and

putting in your zip code. This bill is scheduled to be fast-tracked and will

likely be decided by Nov. 14.

 

Contact:

Amy L. Chaitoff

Chaitoff Law

25 West Main St.

Smithtown, NY 11787

631-265-0155

amy