Media Coalition Members Against Ban on Media Depictions of Animal Cruelty

Independent filmmakers fear that films like Apocalypse Now (in which a live water buffalo was hacked to death), documentaries about cruelty to animals, or even TV news footage of then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin wolf hunting in Alaska, could earn their creators and distributors prison sentences if a 1999 law is restored by the Supreme Court. A number of members of The Media Coalition have asked the High Court to uphold a lower court's decision to strike down a law banning depictions of animal cruelty, saying the law is overbroad and, as the Obama Administration is interpreting it, could give the federal government "substantial power to decide whether certain words and images are worthy of First Amendment protection." Among those signing on to the friend of the court brief was the Independent Film & Television Alliiance, which represents distributors of independent films including documentaries. Not signing on were the Motion Picture Association of America.