Supreme Court Agrees with Abortion Foes
On 26 February, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 8–1 that federal racketeering and extortion laws were wrongly used to try to stop blockades, harassment and violent protests outside abortion clinics. This is an important decision for anti-abortion activists that may encourage animal rights activists to use similar disruptive tactics against animal research facilities. Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court stating that the “petitioners did not commit extortion because they did not 'obtain' property from respondents as required by the Hobbs Act. We further hold that our determination with respect to extortion under the Hobbs Act renders insufficient the other bases or predicate acts of racketeering supporting the jury's conclusion that petitioners violated RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act]7”.
USDA to Regulate Hunting, Breeding, and Security Dog Wholesalers
Effective 14 April, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service amended the Animal Welfare Act regulations to clarify the fact that USDA regulates wholesale, but not retail, dealers of hunting, breeding, and security dogs. This amendment “makes the regulations consistent with [USDA] policy and, therefore, clarifies licensing and inspection requirements...8”. This final rule is unlikely to affect the use or availability of dogs for biomedical research.
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Public Law 104-13. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. http://policyworks.gov/policydocs/16.pdf.
USDA APHIS. Notices. Notice of request for extension of approval of an information collection. Federal Register 68, 9632–9633 (28 February 2003).
NIH. Final NIH statement on sharing research data. Notice: NOT-OD-03-032. (26 February 2003). http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-03-032.html.
NIH. NIH Data Sharing Policy and Implementation Guidance website. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/data_sharing/.
US DHHS. Office for Civil Rights—HIPAA Medical Privacy—National Standards to Protect the Privacy of Personal Health Information. http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/bkgrnd.html.
US DHHS. Office for Civil Rights Statement of Delegation of Authority. http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/fedreg.html.
Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc. (01-1118). (26 February 2003). http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/01-1118.ZO.html.
USDA APHIS. Final rule. Licensing and inspection requirements for dealers of dogs intended for hunting, breeding, or security purposes. Federal Register 68, 12283–12286 (14 March 14, 2003).
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Shalev, M. Regulation Updates. Lab Anim 32, 16 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0503-16b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0503-16b
