{"id":1222369,"date":"2023-09-22T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=618797"},"modified":"2023-09-22T08:30:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T08:30:00","slug":"minnesota-judge-throws-out-charges-against-line-3-pipeline-protesters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/09\/22\/minnesota-judge-throws-out-charges-against-line-3-pipeline-protesters\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota judge throws out charges against Line 3 pipeline protesters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This story was originally published by the <\/em>Center for Media and Democracy<\/em><\/a> and is republished with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In a ruling last week, a Minnesota judge summarily dismissed<\/a> misdemeanor charges against three Anishinaabe water protectors who had protested at a pipeline construction site in an effort to stop the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline. \u201cTo criminalize their behavior would be the crime,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Judge Leslie Metzen relied on a rarely-used Minnesota statute<\/a> that allows a judge to dismiss a case if doing so furthers \u201cjustice.\u201d She assessed that in this case justice meant throwing out charges against Anishinaabe people committed to preserving their treaty lands. \u201cThe court finds that it is within the furtherance of justice to protect the defendants peacefully protesting to protect the land and water,\u201d she wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a judge dismiss a case in the name of justice,\u201d said Claire Glenn, a staff attorney at the Climate Defense Project who was part of the defense team for the water protectors. She said that research undertaken by the legal team found very few cases where the statute had been cited previously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The three defendants, Tania Aubid, Dawn Goodwin, and Winona LaDuke, were emotional as they processed the ruling during a press conference on Monday. Each member of the trio faced a range of charges \u2014 including trespass, harassment, public nuisance, and unlawful assembly \u2014 for their participation in a protest in January 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJudge Metzen proved that treaties are the supreme law of the land, and we have every right to protect for future generations,\u201d said Goodwin, who also goes by Gaagigeyaashiik and is a White Earth tribal member. <\/p>\n\n\n\n LaDuke, however, argued that the system was not strong enough to keep their people\u2019s land and water safe. Since the completion of the pipeline in 2021, regulators have revealed that Enbridge punctured aquifers at least four times during construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe regulatory system and legal systems are not equipped to deal with the violence of the ecological crimes underway,\u201d LaDuke, former director of the nonprofit Honor the Earth, said. As she sees it, the water protectors had no other recourse than to participate in a months-long series of protest actions meant to halt the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As the Center for Media and Democracy and Grist laid out in a recent investigation<\/a>, Enbridge reimbursed sheriffs\u2019 offices, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Department of Natural Resources, and even a public relations officer for work related to quelling the protests, funneling a total of $8.6 million to various agencies through an escrow account created by the state Public Utilities Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n