FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUDGE DENIES CLIMATE ACTIVIST’S NECESSITY DEFENSE, RESTRICTING RIGHT TO DEFEND PROTEST AT TRIAL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 10, 2017
Contact:
Kelsey Skaggs
Climate Defence Project
510-883-3118
[email protected]
Jay O’Hara
Climate Disobedience Center
774-313-0881
[email protected]
Mount Vernon, WA — A Washington state judge has ruled that Ken Ward, a climate activist who who helped to temporarily block the flow of tar sands oil from Canada to the United States in an October protest, cannot present the climate necessity defense at his trial scheduled to begin on May 22. The decision — which limits Mr. Ward’s constitutional right to defend himself in court — bars Mr. Ward from from arguing to a jury that his actions were necessary, and prohibits him from calling expert witnesses to testify about the ongoing harms of climate change and the need for grassroots civil disobedience to impel policy change.
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