Opponent Testimony – SB 33
April 1, 2019
Rev. Joan VanBecelaere Executive Director, Unitarian Universalist
Justice Ohio, Columbus OH
uujoanvanb@gmail.com
Chairman Eklund, Vice Chair Manning, Ranking Member
Thomas and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
I am a
Unitarian Universalist minister and the Executive Director of Unitarian
Universalist Justice Ohio which includes the UU congregations in Ohio and their
many members. I am also a concerned citizen of Ohio and I am deeply opposed to
SB 33.
Others will argue about how this bill attacks
freedom of speech and freedom of association. I want to also raise the argument
that this bill attacks freedom of religion and prohibits justice-oriented faith
traditions from exercising what they believe is their religious duty to engage
in public witness at those places where the health and life of people are
endangered and the sacred integrity of the environment is put in jeopardy.
SB 33
does not directly focus on preventing terrorist attacks. Why, then is it
needed? The major purpose seems to be to discourage justice-focused
organizations and their members from protesting oil and gas sites that pose a
danger to health and pollute land, water and air.
Ohio
law already prohibits ‘criminal trespass’, ‘aggravated trespass’, and ‘criminal
mischief’ to property. This bill only serves to increase penalties for citizens
and non-profit organizations who engage in non-violent public witness at
critical infrastructure sites. It was originally drafted by the oil and gas industry
in response to the public outcry at Standing Rock and other locations where
landowners and fellow citizens protested large oil, gas, and pipeline projects.
The
bill adds a new prohibition under the offense of “aggravated trespass”, that
expressly prohibits a person from entering or remaining on a “infrastructure
facility” with purpose to destroy or “tamper” with the facility. And the bill
adds a new prohibition under the offense of “criminal mischief” that prohibits
a person from destroying or “improperly tampering” with a “infrastructure
facility”.
SB 33 makes violation of these new prohibitions third degree
felonies. These undefined acts of tampering or intending to tamper do not have
to be violent in nature to be judged worthy of a felony conviction under SB
33. And the definitions of “tamper” or “intend to
tamper” are wide open to a variety of possible interpretations. One person’s
non-violent, faith-based public witness may be another’s “tampering.”
And then, SB 33 specifies that any organization
found guilty of the vaguely defined act of “complicity” in a violation under
this bill, is to be punished with a fine ten times the maximum that can be
imposed on an individual for a third-degree felony. This means possible fines
up to $100,000.
The bill also holds a person
or organization that pays a violator’s fines or damages in a civil action,
liable for any judgment against the person who may have ‘tampered’ with the
infrastructure facility. Thus, if a faith-based justice group or a church is found
complicit (whatever that means) when one of its members is found guilty of
“intending to tamper” or “improperly tampering” with a “critical” facility, the
church may face a $100,000 fine. Of course, this would destroy most churches
and most faith-based organizations.
And a church may not assist a member in paying a fine in a civil
action. Which blocks a congregation from its religious duty to care for its
members in times of distress and need.
SB 33
would criminalize the ministry of justice-focused churches and faith-based
justice organizations who engage in and promote peaceful public protest at
critical infrastructure sites. Congregations from many different faith
traditions in Ohio could be held liable for the crime of complicity, be forced
to pay fines that would destroy the, and be unable to assist their members in
need. This constitutes an attack on freedom of religion. People of faith who
feel called by God to speak truth to power and stand up for environmental
justice could find their congregations deeply damaged or destroyed under SB 33.
It would become a crime to assemble for public witness at those facilities that
are the worst offenders for environmental pollution, that create health crises
in our most vulnerable communities. It would be illegal for people of faith to
speak truth to power at those pipelines and fracking wells that expand fossil
fuel use and destroy our climate.
In
summary, SB 33 is a dangerous assault on civil liberties: freedom of speech and
freedom of assembly. And SB 33 also attacks freedom of religion and the right
to speak in holy witness to those who believe their economic power is
threatened by protest. This bill is clearly intended to keep faith groups as
well as environmental groups on the sidelines for fear of being found guilty of
complicity and facing their own destruction.
When Americans abandon their commitment to freedom of
speech and assembly and freedom of religion, the world will notice, and
disaster will follow. SB 33 deserves to be condemned by all people of faith.
