ALEC is the American Legislative Exchange Council, which is backed by the Koch brothers among others and has lots of state-legislator members who introduce model legislation written by corporate representatives.
Link to the topic I posted about the Florida law a few days ago, quoting a filmmaker/activist's letter about the Florida law being part of a larger ALEC initiative:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x643719Link to the reply about ALEC's "eco-terrorism" bill in my more general topic about ALEC:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x591230#625519There's a link in that reply to the PDF file with the text of the bill, and I'm going to include it here, too:
http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/wp-content/Images/alec_animal_ecological_terrorism_bill.pdfFrom Section 3 of that model bill (p. 23 of the PDF file):
2. Obstructing or impeding the use of an animal facility or the use of a natural resource without the effective consent of the owner by:
(a) damaging or destroying an animal or research facility, or other property in or on the premises;
(b) entering an animal or research facility that is at the time closed to the public;
(c) remaining concealed in an animal or research facility with the intent to commit an act prohibited by this chapter;
(d) entering an animal or research facility and committing or attempting to commit an act prohibited
by this chapter;
(e) entering 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;
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ALEC has been pushing legislation like this for years. Here's something Bill Berkowitz wrote about it in 2003:
http://dissidentvoice.org/Articles5/Berkowitz_Animal-Activists.htmAnti-factory Farm Activists Under Fire
State Legislatures Launch ALEC-backed Attack on Anti-factory Farm and Animal Rights Campaigners
by Bill Berkowitz
Dissident Voice
June 7, 2003
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If HB 433 passes and is signed into law in Texas, family farm and animal rights activists could face jail time and a fine of up to $10,000 for taking pictures of penned-up animals on factory farms, writing a check to a group involved in peaceful protests or civil disobedience against corporate farms, or paying membership dues to an environmental organization involved in a corporate campaign.
-snip-
Authored by Representative Ray Allen of Grande Prairie, HB 433 amends the state's penal code whose prohibited offenses already include vandalism, arson, breaking and entering, theft of an animal or natural resource, and trespassing. The Texas American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is concerned that if passed and signed into law, HB 433 would make it a Class B misdemeanor to take photographs or to videotape in an animal or natural resource facility.
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Behind many of the bills being introduced across the country is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Mike Flynn, director of policy for the Arlington, Virginia-based organization, told ENS that he thought the language was appropriate and that it was a response to a growing problem that needs its own category of legislation. ALEC, a corporate sponsored and funded association of hundreds of state-based legislators, often provides legislators and their staff with model legislation.
The Texas bill is also intended to stifle independent reporters or news organizations from uncovering the facts about animal abuse on corporate run farms, by prohibiting them from "entering" facilities and taking "photographs or a video recording with the intent to defame the facility or the facility's owner." This legislation also creates an Internet database "of the names of animal rights and ecological terrorists, and requires that every person who commits an offense under the bill to provide all change of address information," claims the Texas ACLU.
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