Posted on 16-5-2003
Public
(the) Enemy In US Neo-Democracy
(Photo: Allen's bill would criminalize this 2001 protest by
the Houston
Animal Rights Team in front of a Houston Burger King. (Photo
courtesy
Houston Animal Rights Team))
AUSTIN, Texas, May 14, 2003 (ENS) - A bill pending in the Texas
state
legislature that outlines penalties against criminal behavior
by animal
rights protestors has critics concerned that it would outlaw
all
environmental advocacy. Similar bills are pending in New York
and
Pennsylvania. "We could be considered an eco-terrorist organization
under
this bill because what we do is try to advocate for positive
change at
state levels," says Julian Zelazny, director of the State Environment
Resource Center (SERC) in Madison, Wisconsin. SERC provides
research and
tools for state lawmakers.
SERC opposes the legislation in Texas as do other groups, including
the
Humane Society of the United States, the American Civil Liberties
Union and
the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The bill, Texas HB 433, authored by Representative Ray Allen
of Grande
Prairie, a Republican, would amend Chapter 28 of the state's
penal code
with a section under the heading "Animal Rights and Ecological
Terrorism."
The bill establishes as a crime obstructing "any lawful activity
involving
the use of a natural resource with an economic value," including
mining,
foresting, harvesting, or processing natural resources, or obstructing
a
lab being used for research on animals, a circus, rodeo or zoo,
if it is
done with "political motivation," or by someone "acting on behalf
of an
animal rights or ecological terrorist organization." "Political
motivation," according to Allen's bill, means an intent to influence
a
governmental entity or the public to take a specific political
action.
The bill defines an animal rights or ecological terrorist organization
as
"two or more persons organized for the purpose of supporting
any
politically motivated activity intended to obstruct or deter
any person
from participating in an activity involving animals or an activity
involving natural resources."
Zelazny calls the language "pretty cut and dried" when it comes
to
eliminating many types of environmental activities. "If you
look at the
language, all you need are two people to work in opposition
to some
environmental or animal use action, and all they need to be
doing is trying
to change people's minds or a government decision to be labeled
eco-terrorists." But Mike Flynn, director of policy for the
American
Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in Arlington, Virginia,
calls the
language appropriate and says it is a response to a growing
problem that
needs its own category of legislation. ALEC works with member
legislators
to craft model legislation, of which HB 433 is an example.
The bill's language is specifically intended to separate the
volunteer who
writes a check to the local Sierra Club or other environmental
organization
from someone who would commit acts of violence, Flynn says.
The language separates violent criminal actions from what some
legislators
see as less serious offenses. "The fact that you are brought
up on
trespassing charges is not same as if you are convicted of undertaking
a
terrorist act," Flynn explains. "When these incidents come up,
the local DA
[District Attorney] might not prosecute the violation. He might
treat it
like some high schoolers caught in the mall after dark. We believe
they are
more serious and deserve a more serious response."
Zelazny argues that those types of criminal activity are covered
by current
laws concerning trespassing, vandalism and destruction of property.
"What
they're targeting are folks who do destructive and malicious
acts. Those
are already illegal, and none of the major environmental groups
would
advocate it," he says. "We already have laws in the books to
cover
everything," says Flynn. "But quite often legislators will create
new
classes. This is a way to put more focus on it. A lot of legislators
feel
there's not enough focus on enviroterrorism. "This is not the
Sierra Club -
this is a group that will burn buildings or spike trees. By
any definition,
these are terrorist acts," Flynn says. "Let's all agree that
these people
are terrorists and move on."
In the Pennsylvania Legislature, Bill 599 creates a new offense,
"environmental harassment," for anyone who "communicates to
another person
a threat to commit or cause to be committed a crime of violence
dangerous
to human life or destructive to property or business practices
for the
purpose of expressing a perspective on an environmental or natural
resource
issue."
In the New York State Legislature, parallel bills in the Senate
and
Assembly are more narrowly defined to keep protestors away from
animal
research facilities and their operations.
Critics question a provision in the New York and Texas bills
that would
create a record for each criminal offender that would be maintained
on the
state website for three years.
"One of the visions is to set up an actual registry of people
who have been
convicted," says Flynn. "It's important to note that it's only
people
convicted, not people charged."
As it stands, Zelazny says, Texas HB 433 goes too far and would
criminalize
legal and peaceful forms of protests. "It doesn't do what it
says it does."
Flynn thinks critics are misreading both the intent and the
language. "We
can worry about any legal statute because the definition of
it is gonna be
incredibly vague. But it's still the act that drives what happens.
They
still have to commit the acts. They still have to destroy property."
As of today, the Texas bill could become moot, as Democratic
state
lawmakers are holed up in an Ardmore, Oklahoma motel in a protest
against
Republican redistricting plans. Unless they return before midnight
May 15,
bills currently in session most likely will not pass as it is
the last day
for the House to consider bills and joint resolutions on second
reading.
The absent Texas Democrats say they will return to the Capitol
on Friday,
after the midnight Thursday deadline expires for the Republican
redistricting plan.
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