BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2296| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2296 Author: Mullin (D) Amended: 7/2/08 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/24/08 AYES: Corbett, Harman, Ackerman, Kuehl, Steinberg ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/19/08 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Animal Enterprise Protection Act SOURCE : University of California DIGEST : This bill enacts the Animal Enterprise Protection Act and states Legislative findings and declarations. ANALYSIS : Existing federal law, under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, prohibits damaging or interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise; intentionally damaging or causing the loss of any property (including animals or records) used by an animal enterprise or a person or entity having a connection to an animal enterprise; or intentionally placing a person or family member of a person in connection with an animal enterprise in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury or by a course of conduct involving threats, acts of vandalism, property damage, CONTINUED AB 2296 Page 2 criminal trespass, harassment, or intimidation. This bill arises from the reported unlawful activities of animal rights groups against University of California (UC) employees, as follows: (1) on three occasions since June 2006, firebombs have been left near the homes of UCLA faculty who conduct or oversee research involving animals. The home of one UCLA researcher sustained over $20,000 in damages after being flooded by animal extremists who inserted a garden hose into the house and left a note threatening to burn the house down in the future, (2) it is also noted that faculty at UCSF have been subject to death threats, and in one instance, a burning effigy was left on the doorstep of a researcher's home. And, in one recent home attack, masked protesters disrupted a child's birthday party at the home of a UC Santa Cruz faculty member and confronted her husband at the door, striking him on the hand. The author's office writes, "Increasingly scientists who conduct research with laboratory animals have been targets of a campaign of terrorism, harassment, and violent threats by animal rights extremists. While traditional targets have included research and biomedical laboratories, the use of the Internet has provided extremists with additional ways to terrorize an increasing number of people. Extremists use websites to post the personal information, home address, and photographs of researchers and their families - along with incitements of violence. "Therefore, AB 2296 enhances the ability to protect individuals engaging in work with animal subjects in California, by creating new civil remedies for threats and other misconduct made against an animal enterprise engaged in its constitutional rights pertaining to academic freedom." This bill states that the Legislature hereby finds and declares that while individuals are entitled to express their views on animal use in research and to mount protests that are protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the use of physical threats, violence, or destruction of property is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. CONTINUED AB 2296 Page 3 FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 7/11/08) University of California (source) California a Houndsmen for Conservation Outdoor Sportsmens Coalition of California Safari Club International The California Sportsman's Lobby, Inc. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Benoit, Berg, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Brownley, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall, Dymally, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garcia, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton, Houston, Huff, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Maze, Mendoza, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava, Niello, Parra, Plescia, Portantino, Price, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer, Strickland, Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Walters, Wolk, Bass NO VOTE RECORDED: Garrick, Ma, Nunez, Soto RJG:do 7/11/08 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED