[Fwd: utah house bill 100]

ravi gadfly at exitleft.org
Fri Feb 8 08:07:17 PST 2002


-------- Original Message --------

>Utah Senate Moves to Silence Dissent

>Feb 06, 2002 11:26 PST

>

>Today, Utah's Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously recommended Bill

>100 to the full Senate after denying opponents of the Bill an

>opportunity to testify.

>

>Already passed by the Utah House of Representatives, the bill defines

>the crime of "commercial terrorism," which can be a felony offense. The

>Bill reads, "a person is guilty of commercial terrorism if he enters or

>remains unlawfully on the premises or in a building of any business with

>the intent to interfere with the employees,customers, personnel, or

>operations of a business."

>

>The Bill seriously undermines First Amendment Rights - in its current

>form, historical leaders such as Sam Adams, Rosa Parks, Gandhi, and

>Martin Luther King, Jr. would be considered terrorists.

>

>This morning, members of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union and JEDI

>for Women attended the Utah Senate Committee's deliberations over Bill

>100. The Senator submitting the Bill spoke in its favor. Then, the Chair

>of the Advisory Committee asked "Who would like to speak against this

>bill?" When several of us raised our hands, he said that there were too

>many people wanting to speak against the Bill. Saying there wasn't time,

>he decreed that no one would be allowed to speak against the Bill and

>called for a vote. The committee voted unanimously to send the Bill to

>the full Senate.

>

>Denied any public comment, we held up our signs (which featured

>historical figures who would be labeled "terrorists" by this bill). The

>Chair informed us that we would be arrested unless we put our signs

>down.

>

>After we left the Senate chambers, the police threatened to arrest us

>because we were still carrying our signs. We left the building. The bill

>could become law within the next couple of days without any opportunity

>for a true public hearing.

>

>Watch our website, http://www.kwru.org for more information and

>continuing updates.



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