Susan Sarandon Instagram – I’m going to North Dakota tomorrow with a group of prominent attorneys to monitor a trial with profound implications for the climate justice movement, Indigenous rights, and the right to free speech. This trial is ground zero of the industry war on climate justice and the clean energy transition.
Energy Transfer pipeline company and its billionaire Chairman Kelcy Warren have launched a baseless $300 million lawsuit against Greenpeace claiming the environmental group “defamed” the company by issuing statements in support of Indigenous-led protests at Standing Rock in 2016. The trial starts Wednesday in the small town of Mandan. This trial is not primarily about Greenpeace; it’s far more about the broader right of Indigenous peoples to protect their ancestral lands and the right of the climate justice movement to protect the planet. Many legal scholars consider this to be a SLAPP case, meaning it’s designed to harass and intimidate rather than to resolve legitimate legal claims. SLAPP lawsuits violate the First Amendment to the Constitution. This case obviously should be dismissed outright, but Judge James Gion has showed his pro-corporate hand by refusing to do so.
I’ve read much of the file and it’s clear to me that this is an illegitimate weaponization of our courts. Worse, the case is being brought by the same corporate law firm (Gibson Dunn) that Chevron used to illegally detain me for close to 3 years in retaliation for helping Amazon communities win the landmark Ecuador pollution case. These lawyers profit from the destruction of the planet and we will be watching them closely as we observe the proceedings on a daily basis. As appropriate, we will issue statements and briefings to journalists and the public. Our presence is also important because Judge Gion has shrouded the trial in secrecy by sealing important evidence and cutting off livestream access to the public and the media despite such access being a regular feature of trials in the state. (Court TV has broadcast two high-profile criminal jury trials from North Dakota.)
Please watch the video and share. I’ll be posting from North Dakota. Follow our work via trialmonitors.org.👊👊👊 | Posted on 23/Feb/2025 22:11:53
