University of Miami Symposium Examines " Balancing Animal Law and the First Amendment: A Double Edged Sword"

Moderated by Prof. Marcy LaHart,  who teaches Animal Law at University of Miami, the symposiumtackled the following  topics, as summarized on the website of the UM Student Animal Legal Defense Fund:

In the first panel, opposing counsels of the Supreme Court case Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v City of Hialeah described the case and discussed current issues surrounding the freedom of religion. Richard Garrett, who is currently General Counsel at Greenberg Traurig, described what it was like to represent the City of Hialeah in the case. Jeanne Baker, the President of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, then told the case from the perspective as an ACLU counsel and advocate for the Church. The discussion then turned to current topics, such as freedom of religion in the face of polygamy.

The next panel presented two different sides on Animal rights protestors and defamation. Patricia Acosta, an associate at Hunton Williams, described her role as counsel in the case, Animal Rights Foundation of Florida v. Seigel , and what it was like to represent animal rights protestors. Emily Graham, principal of the Law Office of Emily Patricia Graham, then described the difficulties a fashion designer faces from animal rights protestors when the designer uses fur in their fashion. She illustrated this point with the example of Nicole Miller, and the activists who called her, “Nicole Killer”.

The final panel presented the case of Jason Atkins’ website toughsportslive.com, a pay-per-view internet site where visitors could watch cockfighting streamed live from Puerto Rico, among other animal fights from around the world. Jason Atkins spoke to the audience about his business, how he researched the cockfighting, and then his lawsuit, brought by his Attorney David Markus, claiming that 18 USC § 48, the federal prohibition on the sale of depictions of animal cruelty for commercial gain was unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. Madeline Bernstein, President of the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, then described her experiences as an investigator of animal fights and animal cruelty. She also described the legal counter arguments to Mr. Atkins’ constitutional claim.

JFB