House Bills 2595 and 2596 passed through the Oregon State House.
House Bill 2595 will make it a class C felony to obstruct logging
operations on state forest lands with non-violent direct action.
House Bill 2596 will streamline the ability of corporations to file
suit against activists for restitution and massive fines.
We will be fighting these bills very proactively on behalf of our
continued work and ability to do direct action as well as on behalf of
all groups and citizens ability to express dissent to the practices of
government and big business.
These bills have passed the House with wide margins, which means
that the bill still needs to pass a Senate vote. The bill must first
go through the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the chair of that
committee is
Senator Floyd Prozanski (D). Prozanski
represents District 4, which includes Eugene, OR where Cascadia
Forest Defenders is based. He has the ability to get this bill
dropped before it can get voted on by the full Senate.
We are asking that our supporters contact Prozanski on our
behalf. Tell him that protecting the wild shouldn't be a felony
and that we are tired of citizens rights being ceded to corporate
power.
Floyd Prozanski can be contacted at:
Capitol Office: (503) 986-1704
Email:
sen.floydprozanski@state.or.us
We will be fighting this bill and will have other specific asks of
our supporters soon. Please be regularly checking our website for
updates, friend us on
Facebook and follow us on
Twitter.
