#Peoplescarbontax: Judge acquits Pipeline Protesters on Moral Grounds
March 27, 2018
Breaking now. More later.
More than a dozen protesters who clambered into holes dug for a high pressure gas pipeline said they had been found not responsible by a judge after hearing them argue their actions to try and stop climate change were a legal “necessity”.
Karenna Gore, the daughter of former Vice President Al Gore, was among more than 198 people who were arrested because of their 2015 actions protesting the pipeline in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Thirteen people were to go on trial this week, though prosecutors downgraded their original criminal charges to one of civil infraction.
On Tuesday, Judge Mary Ann Driscoll of West Roxbury District Court, found all 13 defendants not responsible, the equivalent of not guilty in a criminal case. She did so after each of the defendants addressed the judge and explained why they were driven to try and halt the pipeline’s construction.
Climate Denial Crock of the Week 
March 28, 2018 at 8:28 pm
Amazing! Fabulous news. Michael Foster – who turned off a pipeline valve in No. Dakota – wasn’t allowed to even present a “necessity” defense. In February, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison (2 years suspended) plus $825 fees and possible restitution (the pipeline is claiming the shutoff cost them $50,000). The pipeline involved later spilled 210,000 gallons oil.