Monday, August 5, 2013

Federal Bar Association Puerto Rico Chapter to Hold Lecture on “Animal Law: An Overview with an Emphasis on Issues of Domestic Violence”

The Hon. Raymond L. Acosta Puerto Rico Chapter of the Federal Bar Association will be hosting a lecture on Monday September 23, 2013 at 1:30 pm at the Colegio de Ingenieros on “Animal Law: An Overview with an Emphasis on Issues of Domestic Violence” - flyer available here. Speakers will be Scott Heiser, who heads up the Animal Legal Defense Fund's (ALDF) Criminal Justice Program and provides a full spectrum of services to law enforcement and prosecutors who investigate and litigate animal cruelty cases; Yolanda Alvarez, who presides the Puerto Rico Bar Association's Special Committee on Animal Rights, where we essentially drafted the current animal protection law in Puerto Rico, approved with very minor changes; and Sherri L. Zack, who as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, prosecuted the first case involving so-called Animal Crush Videos following the Supreme Court's invalidation on First Amendment overbreath grounds of the previous law in United States v. Stevens, 130 S.Ct. 1577 (2010) (see Alito, J., dissent). See United States v. Richards, where Judge Sim Lake dismisses all the Animal Crush Video counts. See also Open Season: Do Laws Against Animal Crushing Videos Violate Free Speech?, which is enough to make anyone angry and sick.