Anti-Terrorism Act

FUR COMMISSION USA PRESS RELEASE, JUNE 12, 2002

Anti-Terrorism Act Boosts Penalties for Animal Rights Violence

AN ANTI-TERRORISM ACT signed yesterday by Pres. George Bush contains a provision that will substantially increase the penalties for actions under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992. The legislation will also broaden the scope of an offense under the latter Act by eliminating the requirement that an offense cause "physical disruption" of a functioning animal enterprise. Under the new legislation, damage to property will be sufficient to give rise to an actionable crime.

Bush had expressed concern about the expense of implementing the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. Nonetheless, it came as no surprise when he signed it, given the tremendous support it had received in Congress.

The provision will achieve the following:

Create an offense for economic damages up to $10,000, and establish a penalty of a fine and imprisonment for not more than 6 months. The current act does not recognize damages of less than $10,000 as actionable under federal law.
Increase the maximum penalty for major economic damages ($10,000 or more) to a fine and imprisonment for not more than 3 years. Current law provides a penalty of not more than 1 year.
Double the maximum penalty for causing serious bodily injury from 10 to 20 years.
Broaden the scope of what is subject to restitution to include "any other economic damage resulting from the offense."

This is a major improvement over current law and could provide prosecutors with a substantially greater incentive to prosecute animal rights terrorists under federal law.

Up to this point, prosecutors have been reluctant to utilize the Animal Enterprise Protection Act because of the limited penalties, the need to prove damages of more than $10,000, and the need to demonstrate "physical disruption" to the facility. Strengthening the penalties under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act was one of the legislative priorities of the fur industry and was a major discussion point with members of Congress during the Fur wRaps The Hill meetings in April.

For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com. See also Teresa's blog and Facebook.

To take a cyber-tour of a fur farm, visit FCUSA's Fur on Film.

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