I’ll be participating in this New York City Bar Association event on the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, and the danger to civil liberties posed by labeling activists as “eco-terrorists.” Here’s some more information.
THE ANIMAL ENTERPRISE TERRORISM ACT:
CIVIL RIGHTS AS A CASUALTY IN ANTI-TERRORISM RHETORICNew York City Bar Association
42 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036
Meeting Hall, 2nd FloorMay 22, 2007, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
A serious setback for civil rights, the newly enacted federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) risks targeting free speech advocates as terrorists even in the absence of any harm or damage, or for any loss of corporate profits. AETA’s implications are far-reaching as it also may chill the First Amendment rights of environmentalists and civil rights activists. AETA would likely have accused Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers of terrorism caused by any profit loss from the nation-wide lunch counter sit-ins of the 1960s. It also introduces criminal penalties for otherwise petty crimes or misdemeanors under state law that are far in excess of penalties for otherwise violent crimes under the 2005 federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Moderator:
Odette J. Wilkens, Esq.
Member, New York City Bar Association Committee on Legal Issues Pertaining to Animals
Executive Director, Equal Justice AllianceSpeakers:
Will Potter
Award-winning Journalist
Creator of www.GreenIsTheNew Red.com blog focusing on the effects of the war on terrorism on civil liberties.Peter Muller
Principal, League of Humane VotersMinna Elias, Esq.
New York Chief of Staff and Counsel to Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY)H. Louis Sirkin, Esq.,
Member, Sirkin Pinales & Schwartz LLPAndrew F. Erba, Esq
Williams Cuker BerezofskyRobert A. Obler, Esq.
Criminal Trial AttorneyHeidi Boghosian, Esq.
Executive Director, National Lawyers GuildProfessor David Cassuto,
Associate Professor of Law, Pace Law School