What is the ‘Necessity Defense’? Updates on DAPL and Keystone XL

File photo.

News reports about the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and Keystone XL have faded into the background locally, but resistance continues from Standing Rock to Louisiana.

Here are a few updates:

• North Dakota prosecutors dropped felony charges against Chase Iron Eyes for criminal trespass and incitement of a riot. The charges stem from DAPL events in early 2017. Iron Eyes was ready to put on a ‘Necessity Defense.’
• A federal judge sided with water protectors who challenged the Trump administration’s fast track approval of a reroute of the Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska.
• Louisiana authorities are using harsher trespass laws to prosecute water protectors opposing construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, DAPL’s southern extension. A fund-raising concert is planned in Duluth for Saturday, Oct. 13 to raise money for these water protectors.

Details follow.

ND Attorney General Says DAPL Land Purchase Illegal; Could Affect Criminal Charges Against Water Protectors

The North Dakota Attorney General says Dakota Access’s land purchase violates the state’s corporate farming law, according to a July 3 Bismarck Tribune article.

The company purchased much of the Cannonball Ranch north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in fall of 2016, when pipeline protests were ongoing in the area.

State law prohibits corporations and limited liability companies from owning or leasing farmland and ranchland unless the land is necessary for commercial development.

According to the Lakota People’s Law Project, this could have a significant impact on criminal charges leveled against water protectors arrested on this property. Since Dakota Access LLC didn’t legally own the land, it didn’t have the right to tell the authorities to evict water protectors.

Leadership Battles Within DAPL Opposition Getting Ugly, Camp Life Takes its Toll

Perhaps it should come as a no surprise, but the divisions within the No DAPL movement are about more than strategy; they are about leadership and it seems to be getting ugly. That could undermine the movement’s effectiveness.

We wrote yesterday about some of the strategic divisions within the No DAPL movement. David Archambault II, Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, has asked people to decamp while the tribe pursues legal actions against DAPL in court. Others, including Chase Iron Eyes, lead counsel for the Lakota People’s Law Project, want to continue a physical presence near the construction site. (Iron Eyes was one of 76 people arrested earlier this week for trying to set up a new camp on private land. Archambault said the move undermined the tribe rather than empowering it.)

An opinion piece in Indian County Today provides more details on these internal divisions.

Strategic Differences, Expected Flooding, Complicate DAPL Opposition

At the Oceti Sakowin Camp last year, many had U.S. flags flying upside down, an officially recognized signal of distress.

The federal government is giving water protectors less than three weeks to clear out their camps due to concerns the Cannon Ball River will flood the camp during the spring melt.

Meanwhile, strategic differences among Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) opponents threatens the cohesion of the movement. The Standing Rock Sioux Nation will continue its fight in court and is organizing a March on Washington but has asked water protectors to decamp. Other groups, including the Sacred Stones Camp and a veterans group, vow to continue to have a physical presence opposing DAPL.

Here is the latest.

DAPL Protestors Get Unusually High Fines, Jury Finds Actions Had No Legitimate Purpose

A ruling in a Morton County, North Dakota courtroom shows how people in our nation live in very different worlds and how much work we have ahead to find common understandings of fairness and decency.

A Morton County jury found eight Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protesters guilty of disorderly conduct, according to a story in the Bismarck Tribune. The court fined them between $1,250 and $1,685 each. Their crimes included such actions as “sitting on a gravel access road built by the company, pushing into law enforcement and standing in the road,” the story said.

Defense attorney Alex Reichert told the judge that a $1,000 fine was more than he’d seen imposed for this type of crime in his 20-year legal career. …

The fines came after a request from Ladd Erickson, a special prosecutor for Morton County, who contends the protesters wanted to inflict harm on the state, people and police.

76 Water Protectors Arrested; Requests for Action, Donations

Seventy-six people were arrested as they tried to establish a new camp to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) according to a story today in the Bismarck Tribune. Among those arrested was Chase Iron Eyes, a former Congresssional candidate and legal counsel with the Lakota People’s Law Project. Those arrested have been spread out to five different North Dakota county jails.

The story said the arrests took place on private property located on the west side of N.D. Highway 1806, on top of a hill across from the main Oceti Sakowin camp.

A webinar organized by NoDAPL Solidarity.org provided additional details, including suggested actions and requests for donations to support those who were arrested.