The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Breaking News => Topic started by: Chris_ on September 11, 2008, 02:16:22 AM
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Cleared: Jury decides that threat of global warming justifies breaking the law
Excerpted from The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/cleared-jury-decides-that-threat-of-global-warming-justifies-breaking-the-law-925561.html)
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Thursday, 11 September 2008
The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.
Jurors accepted defence arguments that the six had a "lawful excuse" to damage property at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greater damage caused by climate change. The defence of "lawful excuse" under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 allows damage to be caused to property to prevent even greater damage – such as breaking down the door of a burning house to tackle a fire.
The not-guilty verdict, delivered after two days and greeted with cheers in the courtroom, raises the stakes for the most pressing issue on Britain's green agenda and could encourage further direct action.
Kingsnorth was the centre for mass protests by climate camp activists last month. Last year, three protesters managed to paint Gordon Brown's name on the plant's chimney. Their handi-work cost £35,000 to remove.
The plan to build a successor to the power station is likely to be the first of a new generation of coal-fired plants. As coal produces more of the carbon emissions causing climate change than any other fuel, campaigners claim that a new station would be a disastrous setback in the battle against global warming, and send out a negative signal to the rest of the world about how serious Britain really is about tackling the climate threat.
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Are all juries stupid?
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So much for the rule of law. I'm glad that is in the UK, but we have something similar with "jury nullification". This goes along with most Obama supporters believing that the USSC Should interpret laws according to fairness instead of the Constitution.
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I figured it had to be UK, the only juries like this in the US are in the Bronx, DC, and a couple of real corrupt places in the South...the first two will stick it to "The Man" on principle in personal injury and criminal cases, the latter couple have institutionalized theft and fraud rings that run the jurisdiction. Trashing some place over global warming doesn't fit in with either category.