Artists reportedly subpoenaed in Patriot Act case [fs]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: PATRIOT Act subpoenas for artists opposing genetically modified 
foods
Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 11:08:50 -0700
From: Jim Warren <jwarren () well com>
To: Dave Farber:;, Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>

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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