CDP staff attorneys Alice Cherry and Ted Hamilton spoke to law students at Harvard Law School’s Pro Bono week about the need for movement lawyers fighting for climate justice and their experience starting a non-profit out of law school. Alice and Ted emphasized the need to proactively use the legal system to advance activist goals...
Climate Defense Project October 9, 2018 Contact: Kelsey Skaggs, (510) 883-3118, info@climatedefenseproject.org The climate movement secured a major victory today after a judge dismissed all charges against the Valve Turner activists who shut down a tar sands pipeline in northern Minnesota nearly two years ago. The activists — who were represented by Lauren Regan of the Civil...
Three climate activists are going to trial on October 8 in Clearwater County, Minnesota for their courageous protest against the fossil fuel industry. They will have the opportunity to present one of the nation’s first climate necessity defenses — and Climate Defense Project needs your help to make this trial a success. We need to...
September 6, 2018 Berkeley, CA — In conjunction with this week’s Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice protests, Climate Defense Project has released the Principles of Climate Civil Resistance, a document summarizing the legal basis for nonviolent resistance to the fossil fuel system. The Principles list numerous legal violations committed by state and federal governments...
Climate Defense Project September 5, 2018 Contact: Alice Cherry, (847) 859-9572; info@climatedefenseproject.org Climate Defense Project has joined a coalition of nonprofits and legal groups called Protect the Protest. The coalition, which launched today, is dedicated to the legal defense of individuals and groups facing SLAPPs, or strategic lawsuits against public participation. SLAPPs are used by business...
Climate Defense Project July 17, 2018 Contact: Kelsey Skaggs, (510) 883-3118 ; info@climatedefenseproject.org The Minnesota Supreme Court today ordered that a groundbreaking climate protest case be allowed to proceed, setting the stage for one of the nation’s first trials involving the climate necessity defense. The case — which stems from a 2016 act of civil...
Climate Defense Project co-founders Alice Cherry and Kelsey Skaggs have been awarded a prestigious two-year Echoing Green Climate Fellowship to support their work with the organization. As Echoing Green Climate Fellows, Alice and Kelsey will receive financial support for CDP’s work defending climate activists and will take part in a network of Echoing Green alumni, advisors, and...
The Washington Court of Appeals today ruled against a group of defendants known as the Delta 5, who had attempted to present a climate necessity defense in the criminal trial stemming from their 2014 blockade of coal and oil trains in Washington state. While the court found that the defendants had not provided enough evidence...
Climate Defense Project April 23, 2018 Contact: Ted Hamilton, (847) 859-9572; info@climatedefenseproject.org In a high-profile victory for climate activists and lawyers, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled today that four protesters may present their climate necessity defense at trial. The decision — which rebuffed prosecutors’ attempts to keep the defense out of court — allows...
March 28, 2018 Contact: Alice Cherry, (847) 859-9572, info@climatedefenseproject.org. In a victory for the climate movement yesterday, Judge Mary Ann Driscoll of the West Roxbury District Court in Massachusetts found 13 activists not responsible for charges stemming from a 2016 protest against the West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline. Judge Driscoll found that the defendants were motivated by...
