Following a series of attacks on the homes of researchers throughout the UC system, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Sunday that will limit the activity of animal-rights protesters at researchers' homes.

Assembly Bill 2296, or the Researcher Protection Act of 2008, makes it a misdemeanor to publish personal information about academic researchers or their family members with the intent to use this information to threaten or attack those researchers.

The bill also makes it a misdemeanor for protesters to enter researchers' property for the purpose of interfering with their academic practices.

"The fact that there have been attacks on academic researchers highlighted the need for the bill," said Assemblymember Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco, who introduced the bill in February. "The fact that there are enhanced criminal penalties now present will act as a deterrent."

The bill comes after attacks on the homes of researchers at multiple UC campuses throughout the past few years.

At UC Berkeley, there have been more than 20 reports of vandalism at researchers' houses, including broken windows and vandalized cars. Anti-animal research activists firebombed the homes of two UC Santa Cruz researchers in early August, according to UC police.

"We think it's going to enhance the safety of researchers throughout the state at public and private universities, and we're very pleased," Mullin said.

However, officials from some animal rights organizations said the act is a violation of free speech.

Officials from animal rights organizations, such as the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, have previously said the bill would do little to mitigate attacks on researchers since the underground people behind them have shown disregard for the law.

Other groups including the Animal Protection Institute of America, who opposed the act after it was first introduced to the Assembly, chose not to take an official stance on the amended versions of the bill.

Campus administrators in favor of the law have previously said it would protect animal researchers and their families who have been subject to attack by animal rights extremists without inhibiting "lawful expressions of free speech."

On Sept. 22, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau wrote a letter to the governor that urged him to sign the bill.

"While UC Berkeley passionately and unequivocally supports the civil and free expression of views, including those that oppose the use of animals in research, we have an obligation to keep our faculty, staff and campuses safe," Birgeneau wrote. "The escalation and severity of attacks in recent years clearly crosses the line of civil and free expression."

Tags: ANIMAL RESEARCH, GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER