United States of America v. Robert J. Stevens - Brief in Opposition

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On March 20, 2009, the defense team of Robert J. Stevens filed a Brief in Opposition for the pending United States Supreme Court's hearing of his c... (More) On March 20, 2009, the defense team of Robert J. Stevens filed a Brief in Opposition for the pending United States Supreme Court's hearing of his case. In January 2005, Stevens was the first person found guilty of selling depictions of animal cruelty (dogfighting videos) under the 1999 federal animal cruelty law. He was sentenced to 37 months in prison. He appealed the case, which was subsequently overturned by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The U.S. government has appealed the Circuit Court ruling and the case is currently pending before the United States Supreme Court.

In the original trial, two members of the anti-BSL, pro-pit bull lobbying group, the American Canine Foundation, testified on behalf of Stevens: Dr. I. Lehr Brisbin and acting ACF Vice President, Glen Bui. Both testified that the videos were of strong "educational value." The jury rejected the testimony and convicted Stevens in 45 minutes. The question is, why would an anti-BSL group that purportedly is working to "end animal cruelty" testify on behalf of a man that produced and sold violent dogfighting videos? (Less)