[ Editor: Common Dreams reported yesterday that the Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that environmental defenders have the right to employ a defence of necessity when being tried for climate-related offences. This decision follows a similar one from the Minnesota State Supreme Court.
To date this defence has not been allowed in Canada. Will Offley]
The court's decision, explained one attorney, "creates a strong legal basis for climate protesters to justify their actions in a court of law."
If, as the maxim goes, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” we ought to ask just why it is that good people so often do nothing.
Chief Lee Spahan from Coldwater Indian Band was happy to hear the news: the Federal Court of Appeal will hear his nation’s legal challenge against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
In a six-month trial, the provincial NDP government will have to fight against the treaty rights of Indigenous peoples whose traditional territory and burial grounds will be destroyed by a hydro project — one that now could be cancelled at the eleventh hour
As a Minister of the Christian faith, with the United Church of Canada, I’m mindful of the duty to protest, if not resist, if and when civil authorities fail to provide due process and fair outcomes to grieving peoples.
I do not take this to mean that I have the right to disobey court orders anytime I might disagree with them.
I understand and appreciate the importance of our justice system – especially its checks and balances.
