From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1997:

The U.S. Supreme Court o n
November 3 affirmed a 1994 Federal Court
of Appeals ruling on behalf of the Animal
Legal Defense Fund that proceedings of the
National Academy of the Sciences are subject
to the 1972 Federal Advisory Committee
Act. This means meetings of Academy committees
must be open to the public, makes
documents accessible under the Freedom of
Information Act, and means committee meetings
must be attended by a federal government
representative. Observed New York Times science
reporter Nicholas Wade, “Officials of
the Academy say that subjecting it to the law
would undermine its independence from the
government and the credibility of its reports.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1997:

DALLAS––Travis County judge Suzanne Covington
on October 14 ordered Texas Exotic Feline Foundation
cofounder Gene Reitnauer to leave her home on the sanctuary
grounds in Boyd, Texas within 30 days, and to have no further
contact with any of the animals there.
Reitnauer is to forfeit the house in partial payment of
almost $1.8 million in punitive damages and costs of prosecution
assessed against her by jury on September 20. The jury ruled
that Reitnauer, 48, “unjustly enriched” herself by spending
$323,000 on permanent improvements to her personal property,
including a swimming pool, and improperly used more than
$121,000 in donations to TEFF for personal purposes including
mortgage payments and income tax liens. Reitnauer held that all
improvements were for the benefit of the 64 big cats in her care.

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