Pack the Court on Feb. 3 for Oral Arguments in Blum v. Holder

Date 

Add to My Calendar Monday, February 3, 2014 12:00am

Location 

Join CCR to pack the court on February 3rd in Boston for oral arguments in Blum v. Holder, our legal challenge to the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) as an infringement on free speech. CCR Senior Staff Attorney Rachel Meeropol will be asking the appellate court to strike down the AETA as unconstitutional.

What: Oral Arguments on constitutionality of AETA in Blum v. Holder
When: Monday, February 3 at 9:30am (we suggest arriving 30 – 45 minutes early. ID may be required)
Where: John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse, Court of Appeals Panel Courtroom, 7th floor
RSVP: Click here to RSVP on Facebook

Background
The AETA is a federal criminal law ushered through Congress in 2006 by powerful lobbyists for the fur and meat industries, and corporations and institutions that profit from animal research.

Blum v. Holder was filed in support of five animal rights activists chilled from engaging in lawful advocacy out of fear that their work would subject them to prosecution as terrorists under the AETA. The AETA criminalizes a broad swath of protected First Amendment activities and is so vague as to fail to give people notice of whether or not their conduct falls under the statute’s prohibitions.

In 2011, CCR filed the first civil challenge to the law. The case was dismissed on standing by the District Court in 2012, and we have appealed to the First Circuit.

Learn more about the case at http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/Blum

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And please join CCR, the National Lawyers’ Guild Animal Rights Committee and SALDF at Suffolk University after oral arguments for an evening discussion “From Terrorism to Activism: Moving from the Green Scare to Animal Rights” at Suffolk University. Panelists will highlight the arc in work by progressive legal organizations defending animal rights activists as part of the Green Scare to efforts by animal rights activists to advocate directly for animals within the broader social justice community. 

During the event, we will also screen a brand new 3-minute video by CCR, featuring the plaintiffs in Blum v. Holder discussing the importance of this work.

What: From Terrorism to Activism: Moving from the Green Scare to Animal Rights panel discussion
When: Monday, February 3rd at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Suffolk University Law School, Faculty Dining Room, 120 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02114
Who: Rachel Meeropol, CCR Senior Staff Attorney; Lauren Gazzola, Blum Plaintiff, CCR Communications Associate and member of the new NLG Animal Rights Committee; and John Sanbonmatsu, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and editor of Critical Theory and Animal Liberation.
RSVP: Click here to RSVP on Facebook



 

Last modified 

January 24, 2014