Courts

8 Answers To Judge’s Climate Change Questions In Cities Vs. Fossil Fuels Case

March 23, 2018 John H. Cushman Jr., Insideclimatenews.org Resist! Climate Change, Courts, Fossil Fuels

Judicial review is about to meet peer review in a federal courtroom in San Francisco, where sparring cities and fossil fuel companies have been called to brief U.S. District Judge William Alsup this Wednesday on the basics of climate change. It's an unusual arrangement, seemingly borrowed from patent litigation, where judges commonly hear initial testimony from both sides on pertinent scientific details. That's done because the U.S. Supreme Court has directed that the meaning of a patent's words is a matter of law, to be decided by a judge—not a matter of fact to be decided by a jury. You wouldn't think the science of climate change was like that. No court finding can dictate whether man-made greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet and causing damage to people, ecosystems and cities. A jury, if this case reaches one, ought to be able to comprehend overwhelming evidence that explains these realities.

Judge Says Groups Can Sue To Keep Arctic, Atlantic Drill Ban

March 22, 2018 Staff, APNews.com Resist! Arctic, Arctic drilling, Courts, Lawsuit

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s reversal of a ban on petroleum drilling in most of the Arctic Ocean and Atlantic underwater canyons can move forward. Federal court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled Monday in Anchorage, Alaska, that environmental groups can sue to keep the ban in place. Former President Barack Obama withdrew Arctic waters under provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Obama also banned exploration in 5,937 square miles (15,377 square kilometers) of Atlantic Ocean canyon complexes. Environmental groups say presidents can permanently withdraw areas but the law makes no provision to reopen areas.

Appeals Court Reverses Decision Stopping Bayou Bridge Pipeline Work Through Cypress Swamp

March 19, 2018 By Julie Dermansky, Desmogblog.com Resist! Courts, Louisiana, Pipelines

On February 24, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, an Obama appointee, granted Earthjustice an injunction in order to prevent irreparable harm to the basin, an environmentally sensitive National Heritage Area, until the group’s lawsuit challenging a U.S Army Corp of Engineers permit for the pipeline could be heard. Earthjustice had filed this lawsuit January 11 on behalf of the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West, Gulf Restoration Network, the Waterkeeper Alliance, and the Sierra Club. The suit alleges that the Corps is not enforcing existing permits for oil and gas pipeline companies already operating in the basin, where pipelines, canals, and dredge piles traverse the country’s largest river swamp. According to the suit, the Corps acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in issuing a permit for the Bayou Bridge pipeline.

Federal Judge Rules In Favor Of Two Landowners In Atlantic Coast Pipeline Case

March 19, 2018 By Lisa Sorg, Pulse.ncpolicywatch.org Resist! Courts, Land, Pipelines

Marvin Winstead Jr.’s pine tree will survive another day. US District Court Judge Terence Boyle ruled today that Winstead and fellow defendant Ron Locke do not have to allow Atlantic Coast Pipeline contractors on their property to begin tree-cutting — at least for now. Earlier this week in Elizabeth City, Judge Boyle heard arguments from both attorneys for Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, a company formed by co-owners Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, and lawyers for the landowners over tree-cutting and access to land. ACP, LLC had asked Boyle to force Winstead and Locke to allow them access to their properties, even though they had not yet negotiated payment for the condemned land. ACP wants to exercise eminent domain on 2.27 acres of Locke’s farm and more than 11 on Winstead’s — including the family’s 100-year-old pine tree that lies in the pipeline’s path.

Black Anti-Racist Protester Found Not Guilty Of Assault Against White Spremacist

March 17, 2018 Emily Shugerman, Independent.co.uk Resist! Activism, Courts, Racism, White Nationalism

A black man who was beaten at a white supremacist rally this summer – and later charged with assault – has been acquitted on all charges. DeAndre Harris made national headlines when he was attacked in a parking garage following the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August. Supporters were shocked when one of his alleged assailants – white supremacist Harold Ray Crews – responded by filing his own assault charges against Mr Harris. More than 100 of Mr Harris's supporters turned out to hear Charlottesville General District Court Judge Robert Downer read out his verdict on Friday, according to NBC. The judge found the 20-year-old not guilty, sparing him up to 12 months in prison and a $2,500 fine.

FCC Must Defend Net Neutrality Repeal In Court Against Dozens Of Litigants

March 13, 2018 Jon Brodkin, Arstechnica.com Resist! Courts, FCC, Internet, Net Neutrality

The lawsuits were all filed in either the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. As is standard, there was a multi-circuit lottery to determine the venue, and the Ninth Circuit court based in San Francisco was randomly selected to hear the case. The order announcing consolidation of the cases and the venue selection was issued Thursday. In order to participate in the multi-circuit lottery, litigants had to appeal within 10 days of the net neutrality repeal order's publication in the Federal Register, which happened on February 22. But litigants have 60 days overall to file lawsuits, so the FCC could still face challenges from more organizations.

Monsanto Says Its Pesticides Are Safe. Now, A Court Wants To See The Proof

March 7, 2018 Carey Gillam, Theguardian.com Resist! Courts, Monsanto, Pesticides

On Monday, a federal court hearing in San Francisco will turn a public spotlight on to the science surrounding the safety of one of the world’s most widely used pesticides, a weedkilling chemical called glyphosate that has been linked to cancer and is commonly found in our food and water, even in our own bodily fluids. Given the broad health and environmental implications tied to the use of this pesticide, we would be well served to pay attention. As the active ingredient in Monsanto’s branded Roundup and hundreds of other herbicides, glyphosate represents billions of dollars in annual revenues for Monsanto and other companies, and is prominently used by farmers as an aid in food production. It’s also favored by cities for keeping public parks and playgrounds weed free, and by homeowners who want a tidy lawn.

Judge Says Public Doesn’t Need Cancer Warning Label

March 2, 2018 Zen Honeycutt, Ecowatch.com Educate! Cancer, Courts, Labeling

A California federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the public does not need a warning label to inform us that cancer-causing and harmful chemicals in glyphosate herbicides are in our food or products, temporarily relieving manufacturers from the responsibility of being honest with their customers. At a time when more and more American families are struggling with diseases and their high cost, one man decided that it was an injustice to the chemical companies to have to tell us about the presence of their chemicals. Senior United States District Judge William B. Shubb released his ruling regarding the case of Wheat Growers and Monsanto against the California Environmental Protection Agency (CA EPA), Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the CA attorney general to remove glyphosate, the declared active chemical ingredient in Roundup...

New Legal Action Is A Path To Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Freedom

March 1, 2018 Rachel Wolkenstein, Counterpunch.org Resist! Courts, Mumia Abu-Jamal

For over three decades thousands of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals around the globe have mobilized to save Mumia Abu-Jamal from execution, to overturn his conviction, to demand his freedom. Without these international mobilizations, crucially including the organized labor movement, we would not have saved Mumia from two warrants of execution and compelled the state to concede defeat in trying to execute him. Mumia is now off death row and out of solitary confinement in prison general population. Mumia remains on “slow death row,” life imprisonment without parole. During the past two years an international campaign of call-ins, protests at the prison and at the Pa. Department of Corrections (DOC), and letters including labor resolutions won medical treatment for his hepatitis-C.

Federal Judge Halts Bayou Bridge Pipeline Installation

February 28, 2018 By Julie Dermansky, Desmogblog.com Educate! Courts, Louisiana, Pipelines

The Bayou Bridge pipeline will be the last leg of the Dakota Access, carrying oil fracked in North Dakota to Louisiana. The final stretch of the project, if built as proposed, will span 162.5 miles from Lake Charles to St. James, cutting through the Atchafalaya Basin, a national heritage area and the country’s largest swamp. The lawsuit Earthjustice filed in federal court on January 11 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West, Gulf Restoration Network, the Waterkeeper Alliance, and the Sierra Club, alleges that the Corps acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” when it issued a permit for the pipeline. The plaintiffs were relieved by the judge’s ruling, and look forward to presenting their case in court, which they are confident will show cause to stop any new pipeline from being built until non-complaint companies fix existing problems.

Federal Judge Blocks Construction Of Bayou Bridge Pipeline

February 24, 2018 Staff, Earthjustice.org Resist! Courts, Pipelines

The Atchafalaya Basin is located in southern Louisiana. The proposed Bayou Bridge pipeline would connect the Dakota Access Pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico. Judge Dick found that the lawsuit filed by several groups—Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association (West), Gulf Restoration Network, Waterkeeper Alliance and Sierra Club, represented by lawyers with Earthjustice—raises serious concerns and that the 162-mile pipeline would irreparably harm the Atchafalaya Basin. The groups recently presented live testimony during a hearing showing that the ancient cypress and tupelo trees slated to be turned into mulch while the pipeline right-of-way is being cleared would never return, including evidence that these old-growth trees are the Noah's Ark of the swamp—providing habitat for migratory birds, bears, bats and numerous other wildlife.

Conservative Judge Stands By Constitution And Dismisses Civil Resistance Case

February 3, 2018 Bruce K. Gagnon, Space4peace.blogspot.com Resist! Civil Resistance, Courts

It was an amazing day yesterday that began at 7:30 am as we vigiled in the cold and snow in front of the Sagadahoc County Courthouse in Bath for an hour before we had to go inside for the start of our Aegis 9 trial. One of the defendants, Mike Tork from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, could not make it as he had medical issues which did not allow him to travel. Mike is a Vietnam War veteran and and very active member of Veterans For Peace. Pro bono attorney Logan Perkins, from Belfast, Maine, represented three in our group with the rest of us defending ourselves. The state opened the trail by claiming to the jury that it was a simple case of the defendants illegally attempting to "enter the event" which was a 'christening' ceremony for a new Aegis destroyer built at Bath Iron Works, owned by General Dynamics.

US Attorney Drops 129 Trump Inauguration Protest Cases, 59 Still Face Decades In Prison

January 19, 2018 Staff, Unicornriot.ninja Resist! Activists, Courts, Repression, Resist J20

Washington, DC – A legal filing submitted today by the US Attorney’s Office (USAO) indicate that the federal government has drastically reduced the scope of the prosecution of people mass arrested during Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration on January 20 , 2017 (J20). The government will no longer bring charges against 129 of the almost 200 people previously indicted based on their presence at an ‘anti-capitalist and anti-fascist’ march that was violently herded into a police trap. 59 people still have trial dates scattered throughout this year and face charges carrying up to 60 years in prison. The motion filed by Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff claims that the smaller remaining group of defendants still face charges due to their alleged involvement in “identifiable acts of destruction, violence, or other assaultive conduct.”

6 People Accused Of Rioting At Inauguration Acquitted On All Counts

December 22, 2017 By Steven Nelson, Washingtonexaminer.com Resist! Courts, Protests, Repression, Resist J20

A Washington jury acquitted four women and two men of rioting and property destruction charges Thursday, dealing a blow to prosecutors bringing similar cases against nearly 200 others. The six were mass arrested on Jan. 20 during President Trump's inauguration after police chased a largely black-clad anticapitalism march through the city's downtown. Some members of the crowd smashed store windows and threw items into the street. The group of defendants volunteered for the first trial date and prosecutors conceded they had no evidence that any of the six committed acts of vandalism. Instead, prosecutors argued the defendants aided and abetted others who vandalized property by being part of a "sea of black masks."

Potomac Pipeline: Hundreds Turn Out For Water Permit Hearing

December 21, 2017 Anne Meador, dcmediagroup.us Resist! Courts, Maryland, Pipelines, Protests

A Maryland state agency will continue hearing testimony on the permitting of a TransCanada pipeline at a later date to allow dozens of people to speak who weren’t able to on December 19 because of time constraints. The Maryland Department of the Environment is weighing whether to grant oil and gas giant TransCanada Corp. a wetlands and waterways permit for the Eastern Panhandle Expansion, also known as the Potomac Pipeline. Time and place have not yet been confirmed for the continuation of the hearing, but dates in January have been considered, according to Paul Busam, MDE project manager for the permit application. The location will probably be at the MDE offices in Baltimore. Busam did not comment on whether the continuation would delay the agency’s decision on the permit, now March 15.

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