“What’s in a name?”

This chapter demonstrates how The Prosecution Project data can be used to analyze the effectiveness of certain pieces of legislation and even as a tool to suggest policy changes. In the 1960s, the call for better environmental practices and animal welfare reached a boiling point, forming the basis of the animal and earth liberation movement. The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AEPA) was signed into law on August 26, 1992, making it a federal offense to disrupt or to intend to disrupt the functioning of an animal enterprise by physical means. According to the Fur Commission United States of America, one of the parties lobbying for the implementation of the bill, the law was designed to punish and deter activists from engaging in “acts of terror against animal enterprises.” The AETA was signed into law in November of 2006 as an adaptation of the AEPA, with a few minor tweaks.