Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

The War on Terror?

As a part of the International War on Terror, the United States Senate unanimously passed a bill that would enact a law entitled the "Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act," if passed by the House of Representatives.

Let's say that you were told by your friend, who works for ABC Fertilizer Company, that part of his job is feeding poisonous chemicals used in pesticides and herbicides to dogs and cats, causing them to suffer neurological defects and death. And you, being the animal lover you are, call a few friends, who also happen to think that this testing is cruel; and you all decide to make some signs with pictures of dead dogs and cats and deformed puppies and kittens and stand in front of the ABC Fertilizer Company on the public sidewalk to protest the killing of dogs and cats. And the wife of the company's general manager arrives in her Escalade to take her husband to lunch and you and your group of 30 friends shout things about the company being dog and cat killers and torturers.

You and your friends are arrested. You've threatened nobody. You have not trespassed on company property. But you are charged with violating a federal law called the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act because you were harassing company employees and the general manager's wife, who also was afraid that her life was in danger because of all the crazy animal rights people out there. And by the way, a trucking company refused to send their trucks to pick up $250,000 worth of fertilizer because of the protest.

So, you are looking at a maximum 10 years in prison and paying for the $250,000 the company lost. And you have to hire a lawyer, who will have to defend you, claiming that the law infringes upon your right to free speech and that the law is vague as written, which are both issues that you would need to appeal to a higher court at even greater expense, and that the general manager's wife's reaction was not reasonable. I wish you well in your endeavor.

The House bill, which is even more restrictive than the Senate version, is still in committee; so, the law is not on the books ... yet.

Terrorism.

Are you kidding me?

The government already has many tools at its disposal to prosecute those animal rights activists who do commit crimes, such as arson, criminal damaging, and the like, the use of which has resulted in the convictions of those individuals.

Why do we another law that comes dangerously close to abridging First Amendment rights?

Posted by Bill at November 13, 2006 01:53 PM