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Hi John,

Great news! This afternoon, Sonoma County Judge Kenneth Gnoss refused to issue a gag order that would have prohibited animal cruelty investigator and felony defendant Zoe Rosenberg from speaking publicly about her important case. *You can listen to Zoe herself about what happened in court today in this short video!* ( [link removed] )

The district attorneys prosecuting Zoe had requested a sweeping gag order against her, and they also asked the judge to order DxE to remove a billboard in Sonoma County that asks drivers, "Should she go to prison for rescuing a chicken?"

Judge Gnoss denied the gag order fully, including the request to force down the billboard.

He described the requested gag order as “overbroad and vague by any constitutional standard" and noted correctly that it would be unconstitutional to only silence Zoe when opponents have been very vocal in public discussion about Zoe's case, too. He listed off multiple examples including the Sonoma County Farm Bureau having an entire page on their website dedicated to updating people about DxE's court cases and a recent statement ( [link removed] ) by Bill Mattos, President of the California Poultry Federation, describing Zoe's rescue of suffering chickens as a “terrorist act.”

If the animal exploiting industry can spew its lies and deceive the public, then we should be able to spread the truth about what's happening to animals and what they really deserve. Today, that simple logic and the constitution prevailed. ✊

In other news, the district attorneys prosecuting Zoe dropped the theft charge against her today. This might seem like good news, but the reality is that they are strategically trying to prevent the evidence of the condition of the rescued animals from being presented in the trial. The Sonoma County District Attorney did the exact same thing two years ago leading up to our last trial, and it led to animal cruelty evidence being extremely limited in the trial of Wayne Hsiung.

This move shows that the prosecutors know people will sympathize with the animals suffering at Perdue's Petaluma Poultry. When people see the full picture, they understand that the true crime is the cruelty Perdue inflicts on sick, injured, terrified animals -- and they want to see the animals rescued! This undeniable truth is at the heart of our movement, and Right to Rescue cases ( [link removed] ) help expose this truth to the world, igniting hearts everywhere to root for the animals. Whatever obstacles we face, we must keep fighting. And eventually, the animals will win.

Cassie

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