Update September 15th, 11:30am PST: Joseph has been released on bail. Calls no longer needed.
Joseph Buddenberg being denied vegan food, calls to the jail requested
Just received word that Joseph Buddenberg, formerly of the AETA 4 case, was arrested again on September 14th in Santa Cruz. He is charged with burglary. There is no word on whether the charges are activism related.
A relative of Buddenberg’s stated in an email that Joseph is not receiving vegan meals, and is requesting people call the jail:
831-454-2420.
Update September 15th, 11:30am PST: Joseph has been released on bail. Calls no longer needed.
I can personally testify that phone calls are very influential in winning vegan food for prisoners. Please call and request that Buddenberg be given vegan food.
I will post more details about Joseph’s arrest as I get them.
Judge throws out indictment in AETA 4 case, new indictment possible
In a ruling issued Monday, a federal judge tossed out the Animal Enterprise Terrorism indictment against four activists. While a victory, this may not be the end for the defendants known as the “AETA 4”.
The dismissal of charges comes after a defense motion to dismiss, citing an unjustly vague indictment which didn’t specify what illegal conduct the four were accused of. On Monday a judge agreed, and threw out the indictment.
In order for an indictment to fulfill its constitutional purposes, it must allege facts that sufficiently inform each defendant of what it is that he or she is alleged to have done that constitutes a crime. This is particularly important where the species of behavior in question spans a wide spectrum from criminal conduct to constitutionally protected political protest. While “true threats” enjoy no First Amendment protection, picketing and political protest are at the very core of what is protected by the First Amendment. Where the defendants’ conduct falls on this spectrum in this case will very likely ultimately be decided by a jury. Before this case proceeds to a jury, however, the defendants are entitled to a more specific indictment setting forth their conduct alleged to be criminal.
Yet defense attorneys believe the government will issue a new indictment, and the prosecution will continue to trial. Because the indictment was dismissed “without prejudice”, the option for the prosecution to refile remains open.
Joseph Buddenberg, Maryam Khajavi, Nathan Pope and Adriana Stumpo were arrested in February 2009 and charged with Animal Enterprise Terrorism. The indictment only alleged their participation in home demonstrations and the publishing of fliers with addresses of animal researchers.
The case, if charges are refiled, stands to potentially change the landscape of above-ground activism in the United States, making previously protected speech activity prosecutable as “terrorism”.
The following is a letter just released by one of the lawyers defending the AETA 4, Bob Bloom. The letter captures both the absurdity of the charges, and the significance of the case for the animals and all of us. For a blunt and succinct explanation of how far the FBI is willing to go to crush the more effective tactics employed by the animal liberation movement, read on.
-Peter Young A new client of mine, a young man named Joseph Buddenberg, is one of four principled, dedicated, and non-violent animal rights activists who have been indicted in federal court in San Jose, California under a new federal statute that was intended by Congress to target unlawful and violent conduct.
The statute, effective as of 2008, is known as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), and each of the four defendants is facing five years or more in federal prison because they are alleged to have engaged in, literally, picketing at the homes of researchers they believe cause laboratory animals to be subjected to inhumane experimentation that causes suffering, pain, and death.
Congress was cautioned that the statute would be subject to overreaching by the FBI and by prosecutors. Predictably, this case that targets non-violent and non-criminal speech is the very first prosecution the government has chosen to initiate under this new statute. (The statute can be found by Googling 18 U.S.C. 43).
I do not understate or attempt to mis-state the allegations against the defendants. One of the documents I enclose is an affidavit sworn to by the FBI agent in charge of this case. The affidavit sets forth the worst of what the FBI claims the defendants did (in fact, the affidavit mis-states the facts as to one event). As you will see from reading the affidavit, the defendants are accused of identifying and locating animal researchers and then loudly picketing on the sidewalks in front of their homes. The intent was, and is, to stop the torture and other mistreatment of animals by speaking out in a non-violent manner to shame the researchers by exposing them and their conduct to their neighbors. (more…)
Just received word that Joseph Buddenberg, formerly of the AETA 4 case, was arrested again on September 14th in Santa Cruz. He is charged with burglary. There is no word on whether the charges are activism related.
