"Judge Rules Civil Disobedience A ‘Necessity’ To Prevent Climate Change"

"A Massachusetts judge found that 13 pipeline protesters 'not responsible by reason of necessity' because the action was taken to avoid serious climate damage."

"For almost a year, hundreds of protesters in Massachusetts took action to stop construction of a high-pressure fracked gas pipeline, which would have run for five miles through the Boston neighborhood of West Roxbury. The demonstrations, which featured protesters sitting in holes dug for the pipeline, lead to the arrests of nearly 200 people, many of whom faced criminal charges for trespassing and disturbing the peace.

On Tuesday, the final 13 protesters facing charges over the demonstrations were found not responsible by a Massachusetts judge, who ruled that the potential environmental and public health impacts of the pipeline — including the risk of climate change — had made civil disobedience legally necessary.

According to the Climate Disobedience Center, which supported the protesters in their demonstration, this is the first example of a judge finding defendants not responsible on the basis of a necessity defense — something that has been used by the climate movement increasingly in recent years as a basis for direct action against fossil fuel infrastructure."

Natasha Geiling reports for Think Progress March 28, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"Anti-Pipeline Campaigners Found Not Guilty By Judge Because 'Protest Against Climate Change Crisis' Was Legal 'Necessity'" (Independent)