Animal Protection > ALF Foes

[GreenIsTheNewRed.com]

The conviction of the SHAC 7�animal rights activists hit with

"terrorism" charges for publishing a website and vocally,

unapologetically supporting direct action�has been upheld by a U.S.

appellate court. It is a landmark free speech ruling that lowers the

threshold of what types of conduct are protected by the First

Amendment, and upholds a law that is so broad that it targets civil

disobedience as "terrorism."

As a brief introduction: The "SHAC 7" of Stop Huntingdon Animal

Cruelty ran an effective campaign that had the sole purpose of putting

Huntingdon Life Sciences, a notorious animal testing company, out of

business. The campaign pressured corporations to sever ties with the

lab. The SHAC 7 were never accused of breaking windows or releasing

animals from labs, but they supported those who did. They published a

website which posted news of both legal and illegal tactics, and

supported all of it. The website had also posted names and addresses

of individuals connected to the corporations targeted.

The ruling was issued today and, although there are many aspects that

deserve attention, I want to walk through what I think are by far the

most dangerous and troubling implications of this ruling�those related

to the First Amendment:

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full story:

http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/shac-7-conviction-upheld-on-appeal/2307/

A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld the convictions of six

activists, including a Hamilton resident, found guilty of using their

internet website to incite threats and harassment against a company

that tests products on animals.

Employees of Huntingdon Life Sciences found themselves besieged with

attacks by animal rights activists after the postings. One Montgomery

woman, Carol Auletta, who worked at the company�s offices in Franklin

Township, had testified the harassment continued for at least a year,

from 2002 to 2003, at her home and in downtown Princeton Borough.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia yesterday found

that the young adults � acting under the name Stop Huntingdon Animal

Cruelty (SHAC) � conspired to commit animal enterprise terrorism and

interstate stalking in their campaign against Huntingdon.

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full story:

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2009/10/ convictions_of_animal_rights_a.html