Help Support (H.R.5092) Amend the Crush Act

 The new bill amends the Crush Act to give it a much narrower focus, but would still prohibit selling or offering to sell any depictions of animals being crushed, drowned, impaled or burned where such acts are illegal.

H.R.5092 : To amend section 48 (relating to depiction of animal cruelty) of title 18, United States Code, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Gallegly, Elton [CA-24] (introduced 4/21/2010) 
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 4/21/2010 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
The United States vs. Stevens (SCOTUSblog)

H.R. 5092 will help ensure that the crush video industry is not revitalized in the absence of any enforceable federal law.
The original Crush Act was passed with little opposition%u2014help us get this revision passed quickly, too.

Signed into federal law in 1999, the Crush Act banned the creation, sale and possession of materials depicting genuine acts of animal cruelty where such acts are illegal. The law had effectively dried up U.S. commerce in “crush” fetish videos (also called “squish” videos), which generally depict a woman’s feet crushing to death small animals such as rodents and kittens. Unfortunately, three weeks ago the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Crush Act unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable. The Court’s main concern was the broadness of the law’s language, which could make the law applicable in many circumstances not intended by its authors.

The day after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Representative Gallegly (R-CA) introduced H.R. 5092, a new bill designed to overcome the Court’s decision to strike down the Crush Act. The bill amends the Crush Act to give it a much narrower focus, but would still prohibit selling or offering to sell any depictions of animals being crushed, drowned, impaled, or burned where such acts are illegal. Passage of H.R. 5092 will help ensure that the crush video industry is not revitalized in the absence of an enforceable federal law.

Since its introduction, H.R. 5092 has gained tremendous support in the House of Representatives. Out of the House’s 435 voting members, 199 have signed on as cosponsors. H.R. 5092 is currently awaiting action in the House Committee on the Judiciary.


The Honorable Elton Gallegly
United States House of Representatives
2309 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0524 DC Phone:202-225-5811DC Fax:202-225-1100
Email Address:
elton@gallegly.com
Homepage:
http://www.house.gov/gallegly/

http://www.contactingthecongress.org/cgi-bin/newmemberbio.cgi?lang=&member=CA24&site=ctc

On April 20th 2010 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in U.S. v. Stevens that the "Crush Act,"
a 1999 federal law banning the creation, sale and possession of materials depicting genuine acts of animal cruelty where such acts are illegal, is unconstitutional and overboard in its scope.

Crush videos (also called "squish" videos) generally depict a woman's feet as they crush to death small animals such as rodents and kittens. The Crush Act was intended to stop the creation and sale of these horrific videos depicting live animals being intentionally maimed, mutilated, tortured, wounded or killed.

The day after the Supreme Court's ruling, Representative Gallegly (R-CA) introduced H.R. 5092, a new bill designed to overcome the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Crush Act. The new bill amends the Crush Act to give it a much narrower focus, but would still prohibit selling or offering to sell any depictions of animals being crushed, drowned, impaled or burned where such acts are illegal.

It is critical that Congress remedy the shortcomings of the Crush Act as soon as possible in order to ensure that the crush video industry is not revitalized. Therefore, we the undersigned pledge our support for the amendment of H.R. 5092 relating to depiction of animal cruelty.
We thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sign Petition
Sign Petition
You have JavaScript disabled. Without it, our site might not function properly.

Privacy Policy

By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.

Having problems signing this? Let us know.