Help Stop The Unnecessary, Expensive and Extreme Eco-terrorism Bill

Action:

Contact your senator,  tell them that you are a constituent and that you think SB 6114 is too expensive, extreme and unnecessary, and urge them to oppose it.  If you live in the districts of Senators Kline and Thibadeau, send them your thanks for opposing SB 6114 in the Judiciary committee.

Background:

If you have ever given money to Greenpeace, picketed a hydro-electric project, or leafleted against the purchase of furs, Senate Bill 6114, “prohibiting ‘terrorist acts’ against animal and natural resource facilities,” affects you.

This bill, which has passed the Washington State Senate Judiciary Committee and is now before the Ways and Means Committee, offers a very broad and vague definition of “animal terrorist” that encompasses people who engage in a wide variety of animal and environmental protection activities, including legal, nonviolent ones.

We do not condone property damage or personal injury in pursuit of environmental justice, but Washingtonalready has some of the most severe criminal penalties in the nation for crimes such as vandalism, reckless endangerment, burglary, and arson, up to and including life imprisonment and the death penalty under certain circumstances.  Special laws directed at people who commit these acts in defense of animals or the environment add nothing to our protection from violent crime.  In fact, the added expense that SB 6114 would force on local communities will mean that less money is available to investigate and track down people who engage in truly criminal, violent acts.

SB 6114 would create entirely new crimes, such as “[e]ntering an animal or research facility to take pictures by photograph, video camera, or other means with the intent to commit criminal activities or defame the facility or its owner.”  SB 6114 would also make it a crime to give money to an environmental organization that is found to have used such resources to further “an act of animal or ecological terrorism.”  The bill would create a registry of people found to be “animal and ecological terrorists,” similar to the state’s sex offender registry, which would be published on a web site.

SB 6114 has been passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of six to two.  It has eighteen sponsors, 17 Republicans and one Democrat, in the Senate.  It is currently scheduled to be heard in the Ways and Means committee on February 5.

If you belong to an organization that supports wise environmental stewardship, the compassionate treatment of animals, or civil liberties, please call this bill to the attention of its membership.  Senators Kline (D-37, 360-786-7688, ) and Thibaudeau (D-43, 360-786-7628, ) opposed this bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee and deserve our thanks. 

Thank you,

Marilou Rickert

FCWPP Legislative Committee

Additional information about the bill, together with the full text, can be found athttp://www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/billinfo/dspBillSummary.cfm?billnumber=6114

See the FCWPP Update sent January 21st for FCWPP’s testimony on SB 6114.

You can leave a message for all three of your legislators and the Governor at the toll free hotline (the operators can even tell you who your legislators are!) 1-800-562-6000

Use http://dfind.leg.wa.gov/dfinder.cfm to find who represents your legislative district.

Contact information for senators can be found at http://www.leg.wa.gov/senate/members/default.htm

Contact information for representatives is at http://www.leg.wa.gov/house/default.htm

Contact your FCWPP Lobbying Team, Eve Rickert and Alan Mountjoy-Venning at fcwpp”at”comcast.net (please insert the @ symbol – publishing e-mail addresses in public websites exacerbates spam problems; our Alerts are posted on our website) or by calling 360 556-2584.

If you can, identify yourself as a Friend (Quaker) when contacting legislators in response to these Alerts. It helps us in our work in Olympia .