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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2016)
Street Roots • Jan. 22-28, 2016 News Page 11 TRIAL, from page 10 to blow it out like a birthday cake ... There’s the Delta 5 “are tireless advocates who we plenty of things that you could do to that need in this society to prevent the kind of fire. The question is: are any of those things catastrophic effects that we see coming and actually going to save the life of that child?” that our politicians are ineffectually Mazza articulated the same point during addressing.” oral argument on Jan 14, observing: Despite this, he emphasized that he was “The critical word here is ‘effective.’ In a bound by precedent, and therefore limited sense, as I testified, I’ve personally instructed the jury to ignore the expert seen effects of my testimony that work over the years summarized those on climate and clean catastrophic effects energy. But is it and the urgent action effective in terms of it "Because of the way the that will be needed to being a proportional address them - in political system has been response to what is effect, instructing the twisted and rigged by large demanded, what is jury to temporarily corporations, in this case the needed, to truly join the political fossil fuel corporations, we address the issue? mainstream, ignoring haven't, we cannot act, it is not the warnings of And I have to say it’s reasonable to expect the system scientists and safety not. Because of the way the political to act in proportion to what we experts. system has been In his closing really need to accomplish." twisted and rigged by statement to the J. PATRICK MAZZA large corporations, in ' court, Mazza C L IM A T E C H A N G E A C T IV IS T this case the fossil addressed the jury, fuel corporations, we arguing that their haven’t, we cannot decision did not act, it is not actually depend on ince 1998 I have worked professionally reasonable to expect the judge. “Ultimately advancing solutions to the climate you don’t have to explain your decision to crisis,” said Patrick Mazza, a co-founder of the system to act in proportion to what we really need to accomplish. anyone,” he said. “No one can second-guess Climate Solutions. “I have spent a lot of “Direct action is kind of a shock to the you. You can’t get into trouble for any time sitting in front of a computer trying to system. It’s a piece of dissonance, it’s a decision you make. As the judge just told stop global warming. But after many years friction, that sets up a dynamic, that focuses you, you’re the sole judge of what you’ve of seeing the climate crisis only worsen, it attention, that shows that people are willing heard.” was time to sit in front of a train.” to take extraordinary risk, that people are He added, “We don’t have a computer DeChristopher criticized the judge’s willing to potentially suffer jail and prison sitting in he|e, we have human beings.” reasoning Friday evening, comparing it to time, fines, probation and all the downsides k Minutes barker, the prosecuting attorney th e ‘Nuremberg defense’. that come with having a criminal record. Adam Sturdivant had told the jury, “You “The judge disregarded the question of People are prepared to do that because they must not let your emotions overcome your sufficiency,” DeChristopher argued. see that the system they’re up against is not rational thought process.” Discussing the classic case of breaking a capable of responding proportionally to the Although the defendants have not yet door to save someone in a burning building, threat we face.” DeChristopher argued “there’s plenty of made any formal declaration, Brockway said other alternatives ... you could call your DeChristopher said Judge Howard’s she is very much looking forward to an rural fire department that might be 15 statements also reinforced the point that appeals trial, and believes they will have a minutes away and hope that they get there the government is unable to deal with the better chance at winning in a higher court, in time, you could throw a bucket of water climate crisis. When announcing his where existing precedent can be challenged. from the stream that’s nearby, you could rejection of the necessity defense, Judge Local attorney Stu Sugarman, who has pee on it, you could spit on it, you could try Howard even acknowledged this, and said represented political defendants in necessity defense - but not the fourth. As a result, he did not allow the jury to consider whether the defendants acted out of necessity. The next morning the jury returned their verdict: the Delta 5 were found guilty of trespassing and not guilty of obstructing a train (the more serious charge). In the court recess that followed, three jurors gathered with defendants and their supporters in the halls of the courthouse, thanking them for the action they took, and telling them that they would have been acquitted if a necessity instruction had been given. Hours later the judge handed down the sentences: none would go to jail, but they would all be on probation for two years. Brockway explained after the trial, “It wasn’t that we just decided to break the law on a whim, but we tried everything else and we felt like we had no other legal alternative, and that is exactly why we had to break the law - to enforce the law.” S How do FHC N orthw est At Health Share, we believe good health is more than what happens inside your doctor’s office. Good health starts in your community and includes staying active, eating healthy food and getting regular check-ups. Beyond Limitations™ ¿ mm Share your healthy habits with family and friends. We can all have better health when we share it together. llll health w a ll! M8B1I Better health together. www.healthshareoregon.org Multnomah County for the past 20 years, said he has often won cases of civil disobedience on the basis of both necessity and freedom of speech. In December 2007, Sugarman won a necessity defense for a group called The Seriously Pissed Off Grannies. On April 6, 2007, the group had held a silent vigil at a U.S. Army and Marine recruiting center, where they used red paint to put bloody handprints on the building’s windows. The Grannies argued they were stopping the greater harm of killing young people in a senseless war, and the jury agreed - with the foreman openly criticizing the district attorney’s office for bringing the prosecution. Reflecting on his success with The Seriously Pissed Off Grannies, Sugarman admited, “I can’t tell you the reason why the Seriously Pissed Off Grannies got the necessity defense, because we never expected to win. But you argue it, and there it was: the judge allowed us to argue it before the jury ... and the jury agreed with us: that the protesters should never have been prosecuted because they were working for a just cause. And it is just a beautiful defense if the jury gets to consider i t I couldn’t tell you of any magic wand we waved to make it work. Sometimes the judge agrees with you ... and that’s i t ” No one can predict whether the Delta 5 will win on appeal, or whether their argument will gain ground in other parts of the country. But like Portland’s fossil fuel export ban, the action of the Delta 5 is unprecedented, and what it lacks in certainty, it makes up for by speaking directly to the problem. As the effects of climate change continue to stack up, and the accepted ways of reforming policy fail, it might be efforts like these that create lasting change. 1 w "-•S J____ B______ I Cuts & Checks Barbershop Blood Pressure Program I Terrell Brandon Barber Shop North by Northeast Community Health Center/ Legacy Emanuel Medical Center Paid Training & Jobs" fo r People w ith Disabilities www.phcnw.com 503-261-1266
