A&A: Unless records changed 38 cats may go home with abuser

Q: A man convicted of animal cruelty and abuse wants information that would allow him to bail out his 96 cats that were impounded by Animal Services. A nonprofit animal welfare organization has agreed to bail out the surviving cats and are arranging for crates and transportation. In the meantime 38 cats are available for [...]

Media, Humane Society of the U.S. clash in free speech case

The U.S.  Supreme Court has tossed out a federal statute that outlaws the depiction of animal cruelty. -SMD The Lakeland Times July 9, 2010 Commentary By Richard Moore In a major decision concerning First Amendment rights, and in which major media organizations clashed with animal-rights groups such as the Humane Society of the U.S., the [...]

Congress looking for way to abolish crush videos while respecting First Amendment

A House of Representatives subcommittee is considering ways to ban animal cruelty videos after the Supreme Court ruled this year that the current law was overbroad and violated the First Amendment. -db Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press June 1, 2010 By Ellen Bitz Congress is looking for a new way to combat animal [...]

Free speech: New efforts to pass bill on animal cruelty videos

A California congressman is introducing a new bill on animal cruelty videos narrowing the focus after the Supreme Court found the 1999 law he wrote violated the First Amendment. -db Los Angeles Times April 21, 2010 By Richard Simon WASHINGTON, D.C. – When the Supreme Court struck down, on free-speech grounds, a law making it [...]

Supreme Court strikes emphatic blow for free speech in animal cruelty case

In ruling that a man could show videos on pit bull fighting, the U.S. Supreme Court said that banning videos showing violence against animals violated the First Amendment. In his majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts argued that the American people had decided that the benefits of restricting the government’s efforts to limit speech were [...]

High court hears arguments: animal rights versus free speech

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week on whether videos of dogfights are protected speech under the First Amendment. The Obama administration is asking the court to reinstate the Federal Depiction of Animal Cruelty law, restricting the sale of videos and depictions of animal cruelty. -DB NPR October 6, 2009 By Deborah Tedford Animal [...]

Reporters committee files brief supporting decriminalization of animal cruelty coverage

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to strike a federal law that makes it a crime to create or sell depictions of animal cruelty. –DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Press Release July 24, 2009 By Rory Eastburg The Reporters Committee for Freedom [...]