AETA

[Guest guest]

FARM -- Equal Justice Alliance [campaigns (AT) farmusa (DOT) org] Thanksgiving Day, 2006 Dear fellow

activist,As you are well aware, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA, S. 3880) passed the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent in September. It passed the U.S. House of Representatives on November 13th because we were outmaneuvered by the Republican leadership of the House Judiciary Committee. We appreciate your massive outpouring of e-mails and phone calls to Congress. We learned valuable lessons from our lobbying experience. This is not the end of the road - it's a new beginning. What We Are Doing We have resolved that Equal Justice Alliance must continue its mission along three tracks: To protect equal justice and freedom of speech for animal and other social justice advocates by working to repeal AETA and to prevent future repressive legislation; To provide an alternative Congressional watchdog function; To promote an atmosphere of respect for animal advocacy within Congress and Justice Department. We plan to pursue three ways of neutralizing AETA: By convincing federal district attorneys not to prosecute under AETA because the law is too broad and vague to make it through the courts; By convincing federal courts to dismiss a test case because the law is too broad and vague; By

convincing Congress that the law is unworkable, unconstitutional, and should be repealed. These are our projected tasks: Establish friendly relations with key legislators, Justice personnel, and defenders of civil liberties. Work with bar associations to obtain their support. Place favorable stories in the media. Develop talking points for contacting your senators and representative to begin the repeal process. Plan a major national conference next summer in Los Angeles to promote repeal. Compile guidelines for operating in the face of AETA. Compile a record of discriminatory enforcement of AETA. Ask animal rights and other social justice advocacy groups and individuals to join our effort. Here is a quick summary of the key flaws of AETA, with more details on our website: It was passed by a voice vote of only five Representatives as a non-controversial bill. It is excessively broad and vague. It imposes disproportionately harsh penalties. It effectively brands animal advocates as ‘terrorists’ and denies them equal protection. It effectively brands civil disobedience as ‘terrorism’ and imposes severe penalties. It has a chilling effect on all forms of protest by endangering free speech and assembly. It interferes with investigation of animal enterprises that violate federal laws. It detracts from prosecution of real

terrorism against the American people. What you can do Clearly, we can not take on this ambitious challenge without your active and continuing support. We need your help in three specific areas: Keep the issue alive among Members of Congress by contacting your two senators and representative periodically, using the arguments on our website, which expand on the talking points listed above. Report to us any cases of prosecution of social justice groups. This will help us to demonstrate that AETA enforcement discriminates against animal activists. Send a generous contribution to FARM/EJA to help fund this ambitious, crucial campaign. In closing, we wish to express our sincere appreciation to so many of you who have helped us kick off this effort and particularly the following individuals and groups: Elliot Katz and Kristie Phelps - In Defense of Animals, Allan Kornberg - World Society for the Protection of Animals, Gil Michaels - Compassion For Animals Foundation, Frank Hoffman - Christian Vegetarian Association, Rich McLellan - League of Humane Voters (CA), Nathan Runkle - Mercy for Animals, Tammy Grimes - Dogs Deserve Better, Veda Stram - Animals Voice, Brenda Shoss - Kinship Circle, Catherine Clyne -

Satya Magazine, Rebecca Faris, Michael Hale, Sid Shapiro, Victoria Stack, and the FARM staff.For Equal Justice Alliance,Peter Muller, pmullerAlex Hershaft, alexOdette Wilkens, owilkensDawn Moncrief, dawn10101 Ashburton Lane, Bethesda MD 20817 www.EqualJusticeAlliance.com 800-632-8688

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