Organizations From 34 States and 29 Countries Join Amicus Brief Asking U.S. Supreme Court to Strike Down a Clause in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 That Prohibits Local Governments From Regulating Cell Towers

Organizations From 34 States and 29 Countries Join Amicus Brief Asking U.S. Supreme Court to Strike Down a Clause in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 That Prohibits Local Governments From Regulating Cell Towers

by Arthur Firstenberg, Cellphone Task Force
November 30, 2021

 

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On November 23, 2021, 289 organizations and 34 individuals filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in support of our petition to the United States Supreme Court.

Our petition asks the Court to strike down, as unconstitutional, a clause in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that prohibits local governments from regulating cell towers on the basis of health and the environment.

The organizations that signed the amicus brief are from:

ALASKA

ARIZONA

CALIFORNIA

COLORADO

CONNECTICUT

FLORIDA

GEORGIA

HAWAII

IDAHO

IOWA

KENTUCKY

MAINE

MASSACHUSETTS

MICHIGAN

MINNESOTA

MISSOURI

NEVADA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEW JERSEY

NEW MEXICO

NEW YORK

NORTH CAROLINA

OHIO

OREGON

PENNSYLVANIA

RHODE ISLAND

SOUTH CAROLINA

TEXAS

UTAH

VERMONT

VIRGINIA

WASHINGTON

WEST VIRGINIA

WISCONSIN

 

and from:

ARGENTINA

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRIA

BELGIUM

CANADA

CHILE

DENMARK

FRANCE

GERMANY

IRELAND

ISRAEL

JAPAN

MEXICO

MONACO

NETHERLANDS

NEW ZEALAND

NORWAY

PANAMA

PERU

PHILIPPINES

PORTUGAL

ROMANIA

SLOVAKIA

SOUTH AFRICA

SPAIN

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

UNITED KINGDOM

 

In addition, the following national organizations signed the amicus brief:

AMERICANS FOR RESPONSIBLE TECHNOLOGY

BUILDING BIOLOGY INSTITUTE

MOMS ACROSS AMERICA

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN AND SAFE TECHNOLOGY

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE

NATIONAL SOCIETY OF LEADERSHIP AND SUCCESS

ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION

 

And the following international organizations signed:

FAI FEDERACIÓN AMBIENTALISTA INTERNACIONAL
(International Environmental Federation)

INTERNATIONAL EMF ALLIANCE

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR SAFE TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY & PROTECTION (INSTEPP)

STOP 5G INTERNATIONAL

TAKE BACK YOUR HEALTH INTERNATIONAL

 

And the following organization representing Latin America signed:

LATINOAMÉRICA POR TECNOLOGÍA SEGURA (LATAMxTS)
(Latin America for Safe Technology)

 

The amici are not just EMF and Stop 5G organizations. They are also doctors, therapists, performing artists, and environmental organizations of all kinds:

1-800-EARTH

Rights of Nature

Health & Habitat

Community Planet Foundation

Malibu Agricultural Society

Santa Barbara Green Sisters

Willits Environmental Center

Once A Forest

NY4Whales

Ocean Mammal Institute

Help Our Planet Earth

Vermonters for a Clean Environment

Be The Change Earth Alliance

Entre Terre et Ciel

Natur-Akademie

Freundliche Erde e.v.

Terra SOS-tenible

Urobia, Parque Ecológico

Sortir du Nucléaire

The Conscious Farmer

Artemis Bees

Cornwall Lovers Environmental Activists Network

Mind Your Wildlife Manors

and others.

You can read all of the filed documents on the Supreme Court’s website: the petition we filed on October 25, 2021; the amicus brief that was filed on November 23, 2021 in support of our petition; and the list of all the amici.

We have about one and a half months to circulate these three documents far and wide, in order to get publicity and widespread support from around the world, before our petition goes before the Supreme Court for consideration. We want the general public to start talking about our petition, so that the Supreme Court hears about it from many sources, and knows that it is important.

The Petitioners are Santa Fe Alliance for Public Health and Safety, Arthur Firstenberg, and Monika Steinhoff. The Respondents are the City of Santa Fe, the Attorney General of New Mexico, and the United States of America. The Respondents have until December 29, 2021 to answer our petition. We then have until January 12, 2022 to reply to them. The petition then goes to the Court for its consideration, to decide whether or not to hear our case.

Please forward the three documents – the petition, the amicus brief, and the list of amici — to everyone you know. Send them to newspapers and radio and TV stations where you live. Send them to environmental organizations that you are members of, and to environmental organizations that you are not members of.

Give them to your elected representatives. Distribute them in the street. Call radio talk shows. Tell everyone this petition is for the future of life on Earth. And it is. Not just because it is about cell towers. But because it represents the restoration to us all of the right to health, a clean environment, and a future. We must stop fighting one another, take back responsibility for how we live in the world, and unite in common cause.

Democrats and Republicans, Liberals and Conservatives, blacks and whites, Christians and Muslims, rich and poor, advocates for insects, birds, whales and forests, and against plastics, pesticides, global warming, and both nuclear and wireless radiation.

There are practically no insects or birds left, and the oceans are dying. This is an opportunity — an opportunity to generate widespread awareness of this health and environmental problem and to build bridges and make connections that have not been possible until now.

 

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cover image credit: byrev / pixabay