First Amendment

Appellate Court: Encouraging Civil Disobedience is Not Protected Speech

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 […]

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Legal Handbook for Animal Rights and Environmental Activists

The National Lawyers Guild has created a great new resource, “Operation Backfire: a Survival Guide for Environmental and Animal Rights Activists.” It’s a booklet on how environmental and animal rights activists have been targeted by the government and branded as the top domestic terrorism threat. It also has a great “know your rights” section that […]

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Church Sues After Being “Terrorized” by Gay Activists Kissing

A right-wing Christian group and an anti-gay Michigan church are suing gay activists who “terrorized” the congregation by protesting, distributing leaflets and kissing. The far-right Alliance Defense Fund is taking on the lawsuit on behalf of Delta Township’s Mount Hope Church, which was “invaded” by queers in November. Accounts of the day differ, of course, […]

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Grand Jury 101 From the Rockford Files

A Utah animal rights activist, Jordan Halliday, has been jailed for refusing to testify before a grand jury about his political beliefs and political associations. But you know what, he’s in good company. Check out this clip of Jim Rockford in the Rockford Files as he is hauled before a grand jury and jailed for […]

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Animal Rights Activists Indicted as “Terrorists” For Home Protests

When four animal rights activists were arrested under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, it was unclear how prosecutors would proceed, and what specific accusations the activists would face. Now, the government indictment, available here for the first time, makes it strikingly clear that prosecutors intend to use terrorism laws to target First Amendment activity.

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FBI Admits Utah Grand Jury May Lead to ALF “Sympathy Attacks”

An animal rights activist in Utah, Jordan Halliday, has been jailed for refusing to testify about his political beliefs and associations before a grand jury. In response, the FBI is going into Orwellian overdrive. Here are two ways the public statements by the FBI and prosecutors about this “animal rights terrorism” case just don’t add up:

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U.S. State Department Warns Corporations: “Never confront the protesters…most of them know what their rights are”

A PowerPoint presentation, leaked from a division of the State Department, reveals that the government is briefing corporations about animal rights activists and offering “countermeasures” to protect corporate profits. For years, the government has relentlessly pushed to label animal rights and environmental activists as “eco-terrorists” and domestic terrorists. The FBI even labels these groups the […]

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SHAC 7 and “Eco-terrorism” Law Featured in… Hustler?

Wow. Well, at first I was shocked to here that Hustler (yes, that Hustler, the porn magazine) ran a feature on the SHAC 7 and the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (and a very sympathetic one at that). But, then again, some of the leading First Amendment attorneys involved in these “Green Scare” cases made their […]

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Saying Goodbye to 2007, and Civil Liberties

This is a solid wrapup of some of the major legislative attacks on civil liberties in 2007, by Stephen Lendman at The Centre for Research on Globalization. Glad to see the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act made the list, along with the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Act, but I think the “terrorism enhancement” penalties applied […]

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Coronado’s Free Speech Trial Starts Today

Rod Coronado heads back to federal court today, in what could become (like many of these “Green Scare” prosecutions) a landmark First Amendment case. Coronado, a longtime environmental and animal advocate– and convicted arsonist– faces 20 years in prison for answering a question at one of his lectures about an incendiary device he created. (Here’s […]

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