[IP] PATRIOT Act subpoenas for artists opposing genetically modified foods
Begin forwarded message:
From: Jim Warren <jwarren@xxxxxxxx>
Date: June 3, 2004 2:08:50 PM EDT
To: "Dave Farber: ;Declan McCullagh" <declan@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: PATRIOT Act subpoenas for artists opposing genetically
modified foods
If the allegations below are anywhere near accurate, this has GOT to be
one of the most bizarre examples yet, of abuse of the "PATRIOT" Act's
powers.
It appears that the FBI is either attempting to censor political art
... or is being incredibly stupid.
--jim
http://www.caedefensefund.org/
June 2, 2004
ARTISTS SUBPOENAED IN USA PATRIOT ACT CASE
Feds STILL unable to distinguish art from bioterrorism
Grand jury to convene June 15
Three artists have been served subpoenas to appear before a federal
grand jury that will consider bioterrorism charges against a university
professor whose art involves the use of simple biology equipment.
The subpoenas are the latest installment in a bizarre investigation in
which members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force have mistaken an art
project for a biological weapons laboratory (see background below).
While most observers have assumed that the Task Force would realize the
absurd error of its initial investigation of Steve Kurtz, the subpoenas
indicate that the feds have instead chosen to press their "case"
against the baffled professor.
Two of the subpoenaed artists--Beatriz da Costa and Steve Barnes--are,
like Kurtz, members of the internationally-acclaimed Critical Art
Ensemble (CAE), an artists' collective that produces artwork to educate
the public about the politics of biotechnology. They were served the
subpoenas by federal agents who tailed them to an art show at the
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The third artist, Paul
Vanouse, is, like Kurtz, an art professor at the University at Buffalo.
He has worked with CAE in the past.
The artists involved are at a loss to explain the increasingly bizarre
case. "I have no idea why they're continuing (to investigate)," said
Beatriz da Costa, one of those subpoenaed. "It was shocking that this
investigation was ever launched. That it is continuing is positively
frightening, and shows how vulnerable the PATRIOT Act has made freedom
of speech in this country." Da Costa is an art professor at the
University of California at Irvine.
According to the subpoenas, the FBI is seeking charges under Section
175 of the US Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, which has
been expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act. As expanded, this law prohibits
the possession of "any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system"
without the justification of "prophylactic, protective, bona fide
research, or other peaceful purpose." (See
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/175.html for the 1989 law and
http://www.ehrs.upenn.edu/protocols/patriot/sec817.html for its USA
PATRIOT Act expansion.)
Even under the expanded powers of the USA PATRIOT Act, it is difficult
to understand how anyone could view CAE's art as anything other than
a"peaceful purpose." The equipment seized by the FBI consisted mainly
of CAE's most recent project, a mobile DNA extraction laboratory to
test store-bought food for possible contamination by genetically
modified grains and organisms; such equipment can be found in any
university's basic biology lab and even in many high schools (see "Lab
Tour" at http://www.critical-art.net/biotech/free/ for more details).
The grand jury in the case is scheduled to convene June 15 in Buffalo,
New York. Here, the jury will decide whether or not to indict Steve
Kurtz on the charges brought by the FBI. A protest is being planned at
9 a.m. on June 15 outside the courthouse at 138 Delaware Ave. in
Buffalo.
...<SNIP>...
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