Action! Oklahoma -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 7/17/2000
Last Visited: 2/15/2001
By Matthew Vita
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To : Matthew VitaWashington Post staff writer
In response to your article For Cockfighting Opponents, Nothing to Crow About, (July 17th, 2000) despite intense pressure from special interest groups like the Humane Society of the United States, our legislators are perhaps reluctant to pass a biased and unconstitutional law that would not stand up in the Supreme Court.Because cockfighting is legal in several states, a law preventing someone from traveling to one of those states to participate makes no more sense than passing a federal law forbidding outlawed states from participating in enterprises like gambling and dog racing in legal states.The intent of S. 345 is not, as the Humane Society wants us to believe, to aid local law enforcement in illegal states.Rather, its purpose is to shut down a legal industry whose very nature depends on interstate commerce.Individual states have the right to decide which activities are allowable, and this interference from the federal government denies them that right.A very large portion of revenue for gamefowl breeders is generated from the sale of their fowl within the 50 states and internationally as well.