The First Amendment does not insulate animal rights activists from criminal liability when they use an Internet Web site to orchestrate a campaign of harassment, cyberattacks, vandalism and destruction of property, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
In United States v. Fullmer, a three-judge panel unanimously refused to strike down the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, rejecting arguments by six activists — convicted for targeting Huntingdon Life Sciences, an animal testing firm — who complained that the law had effectively criminalized their legitimate political protests.
