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Obama signs law banning 'crush videos' depicting animal cruelty

By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producer
December 10, 2010 4:48 p.m. EST

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama has signed a law that specifically bans so-called "crush videos" -- depictions of small animals being tortured to death by humans. The legislation came in response to a Supreme Court ruling this year striking down a broader congressional law dealing with animal cruelty.

The Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act criminalizes the creation, sale, and marketing of these specific kinds of videos, which lawmakers had labeled as "obscene." Penalties of up to seven years in prison would be possible.

The videos mostly depict women -- with their faces unseen -- stomping helpless animals such as rabbits to death with spiked-heel shoes or with their bare feet. The videos apparently satisfy a sexual fetish for those who produce and watch them, said animal rights activists who supported the new bill.

"By cracking down on the creation and distribution of crush videos, this bipartisan law effectively protects both animals and free speech," said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, one of the co-sponsors of the bill.

Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, and Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, also helped draft the legislation.

Supporters said the high court ruling opened the door for Congress to craft a "narrowly tailored" bill aimed at banning this specific type of commercial activity.

"We are thankful that countless animals will now be spared from intentional torture for sick entertainment and profit," said Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States, which has worked for years to stop the mostly underground activity.

The justices by an 8-1 margin struck down a broader 1999 federal law designed to stop the sale and marketing of videos showing dogfighting and other acts of animal cruelty, saying it was an unconstitutional violation of free speech. That specific case dealt with a Virginia man who sold videos of dogs fighting each other at an overseas location.

But the lone dissenter, Justice Samuel Alito focused his attention on crush videos. "The animals used in crush videos are living creatures that experience excruciating pain. Our society has long banned such cruelty," he said. The courts, he said, have "erred in second-guessing the legislative judgment about the importance of preventing cruelty to animals."

Alito at the time predicted mores crush videos would soon flood the underground market, because the ruling has "the practical effect of legalizing the sale of such videos."

Lawmakers had promised to craft bills banning those types of videos. It was unclear if further legal challenges would result, following the president signing it into law.

When it came to dog-fighting videos, "The First Amendment itself reflects a judgment by the American people that the benefits of its restrictions on the government outweigh its costs," said Chief Justice John Roberts. He concluded Congress had not sufficiently shown "depictions" of dogfighting were enough to justify a special category of exclusion from free speech protection.

Nearly every state and local jurisdiction have their own laws banning mistreatment of wild and domesticated animals, and usually handle prosecutions

Several media organizations had supported Robert Stevens -- the man behind the dogfighting videos -- worrying the federal law could implicate reports about deer hunting, and depictions of bullfighting in Ernest Hemingway novels. Stevens has defended his dogfighting videos as educational in nature, and has said the confrontations themselves did not violate any state laws since they were taped overseas.

The Humane Society, other animal rights groups, and 26 states backed the government's original high court challenge appeal.

If that 11-year-old law had been upheld, it would have been only the second time the Supreme Court had identified a form of speech undeserving of protection by the First Amendment. The justices in 1982 banned the distribution of child pornography.

There was no immediate criticism of the president's action, but even this new more narrowly written law may face future legal challenges. The crush videos do not specifically depict a sexual act, and so there may be questions over whether the videos are in fact "obscene," at least by traditional legal and social standards.

The justices are currently considering a separate case dealing with so-called "violent" video games, and a California law that would ban the sale of such material to minors. The high court is being asked to treat violent material -- as defined by the state-- the same as obscene material, when imposing restrictions on their sale.

Never - ever give up: Microchip data brings Scrub home just in time for Christmas

By PAM FIRMIN - pfirmin@sunherald.com

Five years after Scrub failed to return home one hot, muggy, post-Katrina night, he’s back with battle scars, a wild side that’s new and his old habit of sleeping underneath a blanket on somebody’s bed.

Jennifer Noble of Biloxi thought the Humane Society of South Mississippi had the wrong cat as she listened last week to a message left on her husband’s office answering machine.

The message said they had a pet brought in with her information on his microchip. She had given away two kittens -- failed attempts to replace Scrub -- and figured the message was about one of those.

 

“‘Do you have a gray and white cat?’” Noble said a humane society employee asked when she returned the call. Scrub is a Russian blue and tabby, mostly gray with white markings. The other cats had been gray.

“You have my cat! Oh my gosh!” she remembers saying. “That cat has been missing for five years!”

She said the employee replied, “‘Oh my gosh. Well, Merry Christmas!’”

“This is the power of microchipping,” humane society Director Tara High said. “There is no other way that cat would have found its family. This is a very dramatic story with a wonderful ending.”

During the past year, High said the humane society has done more than 7,000 microchips and “we have seen our stray intake go down over 34 percent. The animal-control officers are scanning them before they even come in.”

Scrub, who was about two years old when he disappeared, seems to be in excellent condition, Noble said. A small chunk is missing out of one ear and the other has a scar where the fur didn’t grow back.

He was brought to the humane society, she was told, by a woman who said she had been feeding him as a stray for a month or two and with the cold snap coming in, was concerned he wouldn’t be all right.

The Nobles’ home is in Sunkist, about 15 miles from where Scrub’s benefactor lived on 21st Street in Gulfport.

Scrub had been a gift from Jennifer Noble’s husband, Chris Noble, and prior to Katrina, he was an indoor cat.

“What allowed him to get away,” Jennifer Noble said, “ … with the storm, everybody knows how hot it was and there was no electricity. We had the doors and windows open.

“We tried to keep him in a room. It was so miserably hot.”

She started letting him roam outside and one day, he didn’t come back.

“The scenery was changing every day,” she said. “I honestly think he got disoriented; that he just couldn’t find this way back.

“When we first got him back, for the first few hours he was very, very afraid. He was unsure of his surroundings. He was very jumpy. Then, he calmed down, got a little more relaxed.

“By the time the (Noble) boys went to sleep that first night, he had crawled into their bed. It was such an odd thing. All the other cats I’ve known have been afraid to get under a cover.

“Scrub always slept underneath a blanket on somebody’s bed.

“And that’s exactly what he did. I’ve never seen any other cat do that.

“Today, he still has his moments where he gets a little jumpy,” Noble said. “He is not as docile as he used to be. He’s got a little bit of wild in him and you see it every once in a while.

“That could be his age; he’s six or seven years old now.

“If he could talk,” Noble said, “I’m sure he has quite a story to tell us.”

Just waitin' FUR da weekend...

The PAWse that reFUReshes...

Aurora Katrina likes her beverages on tap!

♥HappyThanksgiving to youz FURom the Fambly Kittens♥

Our momma cried in happiness - H.R. 5566 HAS PASSED THE HOUSE!

Mimi's note: No cute photos. No funny words. An issue as important as this one stands on its own.

WASHINGTON — The House on Monday voted to ban so-called crush videos that depict the abuse and killing of animals.

The measure would revive, with some modifications, a 1999 law that was struck down by the Supreme Court last April on the grounds it was too broadly written and violated First Amendment free speech protections.

Congress has been trying since then to come up with a more narrowly crafted law, and the measure the House passed still differs slightly from a version approved by the Senate in September. It now goes back to the Senate.

"We need a law that stays on the books," House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said in explaining the decision to tinker with the Senate language.

The bill was the first to be taken up in the lame-duck session of Congress that opened Monday.

The legislation, which the House originally passed in July, would make it a crime to sell or distribute videos that violate bans on animal cruelty by showing animals being burned, drowned, suffocated or impaled.

Such videos appeal to a sexual fetish by showing women, often barefoot or wearing high heels, stomping small animals to death.

Every state bans animal cruelty, but it has been difficult to apply those laws to crush videos because they often do not show faces, dates or locations. The legislation makes interstate sale of such videos a crime subject to fines and imprisonment.

Conyers said the House took out a Senate provision that made punishments for attempting or conspiring to make the videos equal to punishments for a completed product. He said that could cause constitutional issues.

Betsy Dribben, vice president for government relations at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, expressed frustration at the delay. "We're concerned about the animals being killed and we're also concerned about the social ramifications," she said, citing opinions that cruelty to animals can be a catalyst to violence against humans.

Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., a sponsor of the original bill in 1999, said in a previous statement that famed killers such as Ted Bundy and Ted Kaczynski tortured or killed animals before killing people.

The legislation makes exceptions for films depicting hunting, trapping and fishing.
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The bill is H.R. 5566

Be there or be square - the Second Annual Worldwide Moment

Two Special Wires, Fergi and Jake, are PURR-moting the Second Annual Worldwide Moment. We could tell you all about it but we ask you to go over to their bloggy to get the scoop. What we will tell you is that this event is especially imPAWtant this year because so furry many wonderful FURends have moved to Heaven and many more FURends are PURRparing to leave us to join those already departed.

So, please, mark this special day on your calendar and PURRmote it on your bloggy. We can't imagine a more special event for PURRticipation.

Miss Camille Suzanne: Paper Tiger

We has only ONE WORD fur youz guys...

Even kitties find special ways to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month

♥Get in touch with your 'inner kitten' for a good cause♥

Too many of our furry good FURends have left for Heaven too early. Too many of our furry good 'beans have had to go to Heaven long before their time to go - all because of a rotten disease. It's time FUR us cats and kittens to stand up and raise our paws in the fight against the BIG C.

So, grab your favorite blankie an' head on over to your favorite snoozin' spot to help fight the good fight against a disease that needs to go to h*ll because it has to stop sending our l♥ved ones to Heaven.

PeeEss: don't FURget to 'click to sign the pledge'.

CALLING ALL CATS! Power of the Paw needed ASAP over at 'the LUKE's' place!

Golden Boy, Golden Retriever, Golden Boy the Luke needs the Power of the Paw ASAP now and for as many days as he says. Luke has had surgery on his throat and the dog-tor said the C-word to the mom. They have decided to fight that old C-thing like crazy and to only think PAWsitive thoughts so no sad stories or downers when you go to hold out your paw in friendship. If you know a good story, tell it. If you know a joke, share it. But no sobbing and no dark thoughts.

They want to see the sun and hear the birdies and listen to the river as it flows over the rocks gurgling away. They need to get good karma so the Luke can fight the good fight and WIN! And, if I know alla' us dogs - we will be right by his side all the way to the victory line and into the winner's circle!

So get on your collar, grab your leash and tell your momma or dadda to get out of the Bark-o-lounger and take you over to Golden Boy Luke's place to leave encouragement and the Power of the Paw in heaping spoonfuls! We ARE a community and as a community we hold paws and support each other FURever and FURever.

And don't FURget to travel on over to Wilf's place while you're at it. He's experiencing some good days with his dadda playing up a storm and eating French food to his ♥s content. We need to continue to lay our paws on Wilf and his fambly, too.