The SHAC 7 are 6 animal rights activists and the organization Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA (SHAC USA) who were convicted on March 2, 2006, under the controversial Federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act. The Act punishes anyone who "physically disrupts" an animal enterprise. The charges stem from these activists' alleged participation in an international campaign to close the notorious product testing lab Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Specifically, these activists are alleged to have operated a website that reported on and expressed ideological support for protest activity against Huntingdon and its business affiliates. For this they are charged with "terrorism" and face an aggregate of 23 years in Federal Prison.

The decision in the SHAC 7 case was filed in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on October 14, 2009. Although our hopes were high that the court would recognize the constitutional and evidentiary problems raised in the SHAC 7 case, instead the court affirmed all counts and convictions against all defendants. The decision comes as a shock and disappointment, and another blow to our First Amendment rights. This decision seems to establish precedent that pure speech can easily land you in court and the threshhold of evidence required to send someone to prison is abhorrently low.