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Farm Sanctuary Calls on California to Reject AB 2296
June 12, 2008

Dangerous legislation, euphemistically known as the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, has passed the California state Assembly, and is now under consideration in the senate Judiciary Committee. This bill, AB 2296, is a state version of the controversial, chilling federal legislation known as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act which was quietly passed by a lame duck Congress in November of 2006. AB 2296 is designed to eliminate legitimate, non-violent animal advocacy.

AB 2296 would criminalize constitutionally protected rights of free speech, silencing debate on animal issues and undermining legitimate and legal activities of journalists, whistle blowers and activists. Farm Sanctuary strongly rejects the use of violent or illegal tactics, and current laws already protect animal industries from violent and illegal activities. To see a full text of the bill, click here.

Farm Sanctuary calls on all those who care about animals and civil rights to contact members of the California Judiciary Committee and urge them to reject AB 2296.

Although the bill was amended in the Assembly, it still contains serious problems. It is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 24, 2008 at 1 p.m.

What You Can Do:

Call - Email - Attend the Hearing

1. Please call the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee listed below to ask them to vote against AB 2296. This call is particularly important if your own State Senator sits on the Judiciary Committee.

   Senator Ellen Corbett, Chair (District 10 - San Leandro)
   916-651-4010
   Senator Sheila Kuehl (District 23 - includes parts of West LA & Valley)
   916-651-4023
   Senator Darrell Steinberg (District 6 - Sacramento)
   916-651-4006
   Senator Dick Ackerman (District 33 - Tustin Area)
   916-651-4033
   Senator Tom Harman (District 35 - Orange County Coast)
   916-651-4035

2. Next, call your own State Senator in Sacramento to ask him/her to vote against AB 2296.

   When calling, you can simply say:

   "Hello, my name is (your name) and I'm calling from (your town) to urge the Senator to vote against AB 2296, the animal enterprise protection act." I think it does a disservice to animals and the public's civil liberties. (Add one or two talking points from below). Can I count on the Senator's vote against this bill?

3. Please personalize this email - use your own words to send a more powerful message. When you submit it, it will be sent to your own Senator as well as to all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. When you hear back from them, let us know what position they are taking by emailing us at campaign@farmsanctuary.org. Getting feedback from you will help us determine how to lobby most effectively.

4. Attend the hearing on June 24 and voice your concerns in person. It starts at 1 pm, in Room 112 of the State Capitol, but plan to be there early. When you arrive, sign up to speak in opposition to the bill. Let us know you are attending and we can help you preparing your testimony.

Talking Points

• AB 2296 is overly broad and vague
• Given similar legislation at the federal level, AB 2296 is redundant
• AB 2296 threatens constitutionally protected activities
• According to AB 2296, an employee of an animal enterprise need only send a written demand to an activist to prevent the activist from posting the researcher's home address and phone number on the Internet -- the researcher's written demand does not have to undergo any review by a court of law to determine if the researcher's perceived threat is objectively valid.
• According to AB 2296, it won't matter if an activist is posting lawful information as part of a peaceful demonstration, the activist will have to remove the information from the Internet if an animal researcher sends a written demand to the activist.
• AB 2296 further serves to silence activists by shifting the burden of legal fees onto activists.