Court Rules in Bellingham 12 Case: Protesters Denied Basic Defense

Bellingham, WA -- March 20, 2013 -- Commissioner Peter Smiley, in a  ruling dated March 18, has denied the coal protesters known as the "Bellingham Twelve" their Constitutional right to present their defense.

The protesters were arrested at a demonstration in December 2011 which sought to stop two coal shipments by physically blocking a City-owned railroad crossing. The defense they had planned to present was that such action was necessary to help prevent the greater harm of devastating climate change. Well-known experts were being lined up to testify both to the terrifying nature of the climate crisis and to the need for immediate and mass action. Coal was to be fingered as the #1 culprit.

Commissioner Smiley's 15 page ruling shows "a lack of understanding of both the law and of the deadly serious and immediate nature of the climate crisis" noted Larry Hildes, attorney for the defendants. Bob Burr, one of the defendants, said that "Smiley has essentially decided the facts. That is something for the jury to decide. He has even denied us the right to explain our motivation, something basic to criminal defense. He further said we could not bring up the First  Amendment. It seems as though he does not believe in freedom of speech."

The defendants were shocked and dismayed by the ruling. "The world is in a state of emergency because of climate change and yet we don't hear a word in the media. It wasn't even a conversation in the elections. Our protest was an urgent act in an emergency that nobody was even talking about," said Bonnie Barker, another defendant. "If a train is rushing toward a child, you're not gonna see a bunch of people that run out to save that child, except for one or two. But it's absolutely essential that somebody save that child," said Tee King, also a defendant.

"I'm very surprised," said Ian Alexander, another defendant. "Commissioner Smiley literally suggested that planting trees was a viable legal alternative, as though this and similar legal options had not been tried for decades. Despite individual efforts, the climate continues to warm and carbon concentrations continue to rise. Individual, apolitical actions cannot have the effect we need, and political effort after political effort has been stymied by one of the  most well-funded opposition groups in the world -- the fossil fuel industry. We had no reason to believe that any legal alternative would have been effective. We were intending to spark a people-powered movement incorporating civil disobedience by acting in accordance with the severity of the crisis. At this point I can see no alternatives that can counter the powerful lobbies opposing action to halt climate  change."

The defendants have a hearing at 2:30 P.M. on Thursday March 21st at the Bellingham Municipal Courthouse, Room 1, and there will be a support rally outside starting at 2:00 P.M.