Authorities maintained a strong presence near the #NoDAPL encampment in North Dakota on October 28, 2016, a day after a violent crackdown led to hundreds of arrests. Photo by Morton County Sheriff's Office
With hundreds of #NoDAPL resisters facing charges in North Dakota, Steve Russell, a member of the Cherokee Nation, argues that jury nullification might be their only means of securing justice:
Take it from a judge that we have juries to protect us from both overbearing judges and crackpot legislators. When used in the limited circumstances that justify it, jury nullification is the conscience of the community. Agree with it or don’t, the power of jury nullification is real and essentially unreviewable. Soon, that power will be addressing the action of the Water Protectors among the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies A common charge against the Water Protectors appears to be “riot.” Watching from a distance, it appears that law enforcement officers just tell people they are a riot and start arresting them. When the Water Protectors come to court, riot will be defined as “a public disturbance involving an assemblage of five or more persons which by tumultuous and violent conduct creates grave danger of damage or injury to property or persons or substantially obstructs law enforcement or other government function.”Read More on the Story:
Steve Russell: Malheur v. DAPL: Jury Nullification or Prosecutor Overreach? (Indian Country Today 10/31) More #NoDAPL Opinions:
Aaron Bady: The protests at Standing Rock are necessary. What happened at Malheur was nonsense. (The Los Angeles Times 10/30)
Bill McKibben: Why Dakota Is the New Keystone (The New York Times 10/29) Also Today:
North Dakota pipeline activists say arrested protesters were kept in dog kennels (The Los Angeles Times 10/28)
Money pours in for anti-pipeline protest, but will it last? (AP 10/30)
Parallels seen in protests of Dakota pipeline, Oregon refuge (AP 10/30)
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