CDP’s Alice Cherry was quoted in an Associated Press article describing the history and use of the necessity defense by climate activists and others. The article also mentions Climate Defense Project’s resources on the necessity defense. Check it out here. It was first attempted in a U.S. environmental case in 2009 when a climate change...
CDP Executive Director Kelsey Skaggs was featured in an interview with Christina Aanestad on KPFA, a Northern California radio station, this morning. Other individuals interviewed as part of the broadcast include Tim DeChristopher, founder of the Climate Disobedience Center, and Annette Klapstein, one of the defendants in the Shut It Down action. You can check out the full...
Climate Defense Project October 17, 2017 info@climatedefenseproject.org Berkeley, CA — A judge in Spokane, WA has ruled that a climate activist may present evidence that his act of civil disobedience was motivated by the urgent need to address the climate crisis. Monday’s ruling comes in the wake of a similar ruling in a Minnesota case,...
InsideClimate News reported on a victory for activists and attorneys in Minnesota, where a judge issued the first written opinion allowing the climate necessity defense. More information is available in our press release on the case here.
Climate Defense Project October 14, 2017 info@climatedefenseproject.org Berkeley, CA — Climate activists secured a significant victory on Friday when a Minnesota judge issued a written opinion allowing the presentation of the climate necessity defense at a jury trial. The case stems from a set of coordinated “Shut It Down” actions last October, when activists across...
CDP attorney Alice Cherry was a member of the legal team defending activists Michael Foster and Samuel Jessup in their recent trial in North Dakota, which ended in convictions after experts on climate science and civil disobedience were barred from testifying. Michael Foster was a “valve turner” who turned off the flow of tar sands...
From our allies at Climate Direct Action: Contact: Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com , 914-589-5988 [Cavalier, North Dakota – October 6, 2017] The landmark trial of Michael Foster, a mental health counselor in his 50s from Seattle, just ended in conviction on several felony charges for his action of shutting off the emergency valve on the Keystone 1 tar sands pipeline...
The Associated Press covered the Shut It Down trials, including the North Dakota case of Michael Foster, and discussed at length the climate necessity defense. “The necessity defense is popular among environmental activists. The Climate Defense Project even offers an educational guide on what it calls an area of the law that is ‘developing rapidly.'”...
