You may have heard about the climate activists who had charges and a trial pending over obstruction of commerce by blocking a coal barge to the Brayton Point electric power plant with a lobster boat? Well the DA just caved, and announced he drank the kool-aid, and is going on the climate march. Video follows
From WBGH Boston:
It was intended to be a show trial, with climate scientist-turned-activist James Hansen and 350.org founder Bill McKibben both slated to testify. Ward and O’Hara planned a necessity defense, arguing that climate change presented such a crisis – and federal climate action was so inadequate – that they had no alternative but to place their lobster boat between the barge and the power plant. Whether or not the defense was successful, it would be a statement.
Instead, Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter made a surprise appearance in court Monday morning with a statement of his own. Sutter announced that his office was dropping all criminal charges, and that he, himself, would be attending the People’s Climate March in New York City later this month. He called climate change “one of the gravest crises of our time.”
Ward and O’Hara still face civil charges.
And from The Nation:
And what happened, the truly remarkable thing, was this: the prosecutor, Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter, not only dropped the charges (which could have resulted in months, or even years, of jail time), he then proceeded out to the courthouse plaza where he made a statement to the media and to the hundred or more people gathered in support of Ken and Jay. Here’s what he said:
The decision that Assistant District Attorney Robert Kidd and I reached today was a decision that certainly took into consideration the cost to the taxpayers in Somerset, but was also made with our concerns for their children, and the children of Bristol County and beyond in mind.
Climate change is one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced. In my humble opinion, the political leadership on this issue has been gravely lacking. I am heartened that we were able to forge an agreement that both parties were pleased with and that appeared to satisfy the police and those here in sympathy with the individuals who were charged.
I am also extremely pleased that we were able to reach an agreement that symbolizes our commitment at the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office to take a leadership role on this issue.
Source: http://bristolda.com/2014/09/statement-on-the-disposition-of-the-brayton-point-protest-case/
Another victim of noble cause corruption: Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter website: http://bristolda.com/
The definition of noble cause corruption is:
Noble Cause Corruption is a mindset or sub-culture which fosters a belief that the ends justify the means.
– source: Public Agency Training Council
A recent tweet says its something they feel strongly about:
https://twitter.com/NJRob973/status/509160517865570304
![LadyJusticeImage[1]](https://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/ladyjusticeimage1.jpg)
Lady Justice was forced to take her blindfold off by this action:
Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a blindfold. The blindfold represents objectivity, in that justice is or should be meted out objectively, without fear or favour, regardless of identity, money, power, or weakness; blind justice and impartiality.
This was how the 14th amendment came about, when law enforcement officials would not prosecute racial crimes committed in the south.
Article VI requires that “all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution”. So this DA has, by this statement, arguably tendered his resignation from his office, since he is asserting that he will not be bound to his duties under the 14th Amendment. Someone should accept his resignation, on behalf of the people.
I do hope the voters remember that he discarded the law in favor of his own beliefs when it comes time for re-election.
h/t to WUWT reader Tom McClellan
Since I know this will be a bad winter I hope they all freeze to death. Not that mean, considering they are freezing at least 75,000 UK citizens to death, and unknown numbers of Canadians, US citizens and people all over the planet. They might as well add themselves to the list.
They’re ready for this eventuality – several claims and papers are floating about suggesting global warming makes polar vortex winters more likely.
global warming causes severe winters, GW causes 50% increase in Arctic ice volume in one year. Sounds like one of the negative feedbacks they are so sure don’t exist. May explain why their models don’t work.
That became a slogan in the when the Northeastern US didn’t build refineries due to environmental concerns: “Let the bastards freeze to death in the dark.”
The power plant should have a “malfunction” during the highest demand point this winter and let the wackos see how bad it can be for a few hours. Of course if it was discovered to not be an accident, this same DA would likely try to bring the plant operator up on charges for not burning his coal properly for the DAs comfort.
The DA was bought off. I’d be auditing his bank account. They can do that right? Not for a private citizen without a warrant, but for a DA, that’s an elected office.
Task force on public corruption. This cull got a fat check from the Tides foundation, or some other downstream money laundering outfit.
Bought out prostitute.
Sure he feels so strongly about the theory of CAGW he is too gutless to debate it in a courtroom? BS
Yes, thats the thing, a good debate with an sharp judge could show the folly of Climate doom hysteria. The folly of teaching Intelligent Design as science was proved in a court of law, and it never recovered.
Tougher here, since there is actual science invloved, perverted science from the Climate zeolots, but none the less science. Actualy, probably would have been a circus with defendents demanding proof of negatives. I can hear it now, “Prove that Florida will not be under water in 50 years!. Ah ha! See you can’t! We win!” It’s like Christians debating atheists, entertaining but useless venture and the Christians always claim they won.
I believe it was precisely that…. No trial – no debate. This was possibly dictated from above as a winning solution for the Believers.
Actually, there hasn’t been any such trial. The Scopes trial didn’t address the truth or falsity of evolution, surprisingly enough, and most of the other trials were about what qualifies as science, which is an entirely different question from whether something is true. “Napoleon was born in Corsica” is a true statement, despite not being scientific. The courts have (quite properly) not assessed the evidence of evolution or its competitors – that is generally not their responsibility.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t most debates end with both sides claiming to have won? Isn’t victory usually assessed based on the audience’s opinion? There’s no need to play the village atheist around here.
stupid is as stupid does.
Climate activists are funded by Big Wind.
Big Wind (with the money of investors like Siemens and Buffet on the line),
impotent in the electric power market,
yet has some pull in politics… .
If Sam Sutter signed his own paychecks,
the story would very likely have ended differently.
Not defending him, just offering a plausible explanation for his apparent cowardice and gross ignorance of science.
******************
{Yes, the nuclear power industry also has a motive, here, but, NUCLEAR POWER ROCKS (gov’t reg.’s should be revised to promote it), so, even if they also used these slimy methods, I’ll not point the finger at them — except to say…. Yo, Big Nuke: If you guys are behind these slimeball tactics, knock it off — you’re better than that; you don’t need to stoop to the level of the Wind Crooks.}
Unfortunately that is the case with most elected officials, their morality and decision making is for sale to the highest bidder, or actually to all bidders.
Do not make the mistake that leftists make all the time. “Funded by” does not prove “created by” or “driven by.”
In this case, the truth is actually the converse: climate activism created Big Wind.
Climate activism existed long before “Big Wind” became a reality. Since climate activism was political, it produced political results, including government subsidies and favors for the fantasy power sources that suited their sound bites for the moment: solar power and wind power. The subsidies attracted big investors, who saw how they could get rich milking the government. The new wind power moguls then took some of their wealth and put it behind the climate activists, since the longer the insanity continues, the more they’ll be able to milk from the government.
Of course, as soon as the subsidy dries up, they’ll declare bankruptcy (legitimately, since wind power cannot possibly turn a real profit) and leave the awkward, metal giants to rot in the sun and wind. There are already thousands of abandoned turbines in places where the government money migrated to other locations.
Please don’t make the mistake that leftists make all the time. “Funded by” does not mean “created by” or even “driven by.”
In this particular instance, the truth is the converse: climate activism created Big Wind.
Climate activism is political, and produced political results, namely government subsidies for the fantasy power sources that fit the “renewable” meme: solar power and wind power. The subsidies attracted large financiers, who saw an opportunity to milk the government for millions, and sometimes billions, of dollars. Up went the turbines, and in flowed the cash. Then the new, wealthy wind moguls put a few of their dollars behind climate activists, who could be counted on to protect and increase the subsidies for their cash cows.
Of course, when the subsidy dries up (as it inevitably must) the moguls will declare bankruptcy immediately–legitimately, since wind power cannot possibly turn a real profit on its own. Then the pretty turbines will be abandoned to rot in the sun and wind. There are already thousands of rusting giants where the government cash was withdrawn to pursue other interests.
Not a terrible surprise, given the example being set at the top of our government: If you don’t like the laws you have, just don’t enforce them, and if you don’t have the laws you like, just create them by bureaucratic fiat.
I do find it troubling that the DA so openly admitted to acting directly out of a conflict of interest. He should be removed from office and disbarred, but obviously he doesn’t think that is going to happen.
Why, yes. Progressives do not have to obey laws like the rest of us. In fact, when a Progressive chooses to ignore the law, it’s a clear manifestation of a superior moral awareness. Didn’t you catch the reference to their children and to the future of the planet? They serve a higher moral light than the rest of us mere mortals. So naturally, to prosecute them according to law would be unenlightened, even neanderthal.
This explains why Progressive far and wide can be seen committing illegal acts to undermine elections, demolish voter registration rolls, empower abortion mills and prostitution rings, etc. It’s because they are morally superior, and exist on a plane above the law.
Do I need to insert a “/sarc” tag? Or is the point plain enough without it?
<sarc> tags are necessary in this day and age because the
uselessuseful idiots on the Progressive side have exponentially lower logic and processing skills than the average patch of mildew eating through the paint of a wind turbine.They should keep in mind that their opponents are watching this. When the political winds shift, and their opponents are in power, all of the same tyrannical abuse of power will be in their hands. There is nothing to stop the conservative from ignoring the laws in the same way the progressives did.
Not only that, but respect for the laws is what keeps blood from running in the streets. Eventually, you reach the point when people just revolt, and no amount of law will save you then.
Hey, we’re talking Masschusettes here. It’s not as if we ever believed we were dealing with rational people, either in govt or out of govt. You do wonder where this DA ever got the idea that he had become an expert on global warming in a few hours, though. So what’s to stop these people from storming the local coal power station and shutting it down? Apparently democracy no longer exists in Massachusettes (if it ever did) – the mobs determine what the laws are.
So, coal barges may now be blocked by activists with impunity?
Methinks there must be an administrative law remedy in the US to compel a public official to perform the duties of his office.
So now if someone blocked, say, a shipment of windmill or solar parts, this same DA would presumably prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
Why? Because he has decided that he is the law, and he has the right to decide what is good, and what is bad in society. Being the judge and jury in this case, in addition to being the prosecutor, is a fun position. Too bad for the chumps who lost money by this commercial obstruction. The coal barge owners don’t care about the planet. They deserve what they get, right?
Noble Cause Corruption is the most insidious corruption, because its perpetrators presume that they, and they alone, know the Truth. And thus, they make rulings like this from their all-knowing perch.
Who needs laws on the books, anyway?
If I had the time and money, I would love to do it, just to see them squirm.
Writ of Mandamus.
It’s been a while since I read it, but wouldn’t the tug and barge have right away due to the larger mass of the laden barges? The Tugboat operator could legitimately have said he was unable to stop in time to prevent the tragedy of the sunken lobster boat.
right of way even
That’s great…. Let’s all go down the path of chaos. It’s justified right? For punishment, they should be forced to camp in Montana next week as the winter makes its preemptive strike this year. Oh wait…. That cold moving in is because of global warming…right? It couldn’t be from Pacific Ocean-warmed air rushing up to the arctic so rapidly from a large temperature differential thus forcing the polar air into central US. That air is taking path of least resistance over the pacific up to arctic for a reason…it’s not just a coincidence. It’s almost he exact same reason it happened in the 70s….but breaking out my crystal ball here…the effect will be much more prolonged this time around.
Rubbing my crystal ball some more here….El Niño will be a dud this year for California because the air is still pumping primarily up to the Bering strait.. This will continue until a much colder equilibrium of ocean and atmosphere temperature is reached……as a primary player in climate continues it’s long term holiday.
That’s right…it’s going to get much colder….
Let’s all get chaotic….. And fight over it. The DA will take a walk.
This is pure bullshit
Sutter appears to have committed Prosecutorial Misconduct
See Randall Grometstein’s review of Prosecutorial Misconduct and Noble Cause Corruption
How do we hold Prosecutors accountable to We the People for such gross misconduct? See:
BACKING OUT OF A CONSTITUTIONAL DITCH: CONSTITUTIONAL REMEDIES FOR GROSS PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT POST THOMPSON Randall Grometstein & Jennifer M. Balboni
Maybe this should start a new chapter in:
Police Ethics: The Corruption of Noble Cause 3rd ed
By Michael A. Caldero, John P. Crank 2010
Contrast conventional Noble Cause Corruption By Steve Rothlein
Being Boston, this won’t happen, but what you’d love to see is a journalist asking the DA exactly which facts had convinced him that burning coal would destroy the planet and why he disagrees with Monkton about his estimates and so on…… I would be surprised if he came up with any reply
His reply would be ” who is “Monkton?”
His reply would be “Monckton is financed by Big Oil,” without knowing who Monckton is, seeing a shred of evidence supporting the claim, or answering the question, “What does ‘who finances’ have to do with the scientific question?”
The AGU Intelligencia will be Crowing LOUD to the Heavens on this since they bank rolled Hansen and pay for his “executive suite” at the San Francisco Marriott and tickets to the Giants-Seahawk Game in 2013 with membership funds and delayed his “illustrious” /sark “Lecture” otherwise a “speech” to faithful of the AGU Church of Scientology.
Bad days ahead for the AGU “executive” and “president” and their apparatchiks.
This is what happens when the rule of law no longer has any meaning. He must have a pen and a phone, as well.
Maybe he plans to run against/with Hillary.
I left MA along time ago partly because of the corruption. Apparently it’s reached Obama levels. This guy should be eliminated, but I’m sure that won’t happen in the far, far left state of MA. I guess there, as with obama, any oath to enforce the law. He’s a criminal There’s lots of them these days
It’s a miracle! Can you gimme’ a “hallelujah”?
Laws are for the little people…
As many have suggested, this will certainly embolden the left wing, progressive activists to break the law with impunity in the name of climate change.
Let’s say a store owner has spoken out as a skeptic and an activist trashes his property. The activist has all charges dropped. Where do you think this will lead? And it won’t stop at climate change…
If the rule of law is destroyed, the only justification for obedience is simple fear. If they really want to go down that road, they had better watch the Devil speech in A Man For All Seasons.
Kind of reduces the urge to comply with any laws or regulations.
These kind of political decisions go a long way to demonstrate a category; Unfit to hold office.
Without rule of law, all being equal before these laws, entitled nitwits like this career parasite are on very thin ice.
Progressives are such fools.
Today they rule, yes he will get away with this.
But tomorrow?
And when the power changes, this character and friends will be the first to whine about abuse of power.
D.A sounds like a description of his ethics.
Or should that be D.O.A?
We’s here to collect the ’em insurance. Yah, that’s the ticket. Lest your place happens to burns down from global warmin’, ya sees. Whole lots of places burnin’ down from a dat global warming. Can’t bees too careful.
Sail powered lobster boat was it?
Reblogged this on gottadobetterthanthis and commented:
Climate alarmism is so insane. I just don’t understand it. Scofflaw. It is madness. Next thing you know, the alarmists will be blowing up clinics, I mean filling stations, or SUVs in people’s driveways, knowing the prosecutors will not prosecute, but claim that climate alarm is the greater good. Madness. Simply madness.
That’s a good point. What if the tables were turned, an (you-know-what) clinic was blockaded, and the DA refused to prosecute? Could you imagine the howls?
Interesting analogy, Bart,
the libs promote death whenever and wherever they can… death of unborn humans…. death of birds…. no DDT = death by malaria… more swamps (a.k.a. “wetlands”) = more death by disease…. no phosphates (more fantasy science) = death by bacteria (increased potential, anyway)… no coal-fired electricity = death by freezing (or heat without AC in summer)…
lovely bunch, those libs.
btw: GLAD to see you are still posting on WUWT — ol’ Englebeen is STILL pushing the CO2-leads-temperature fallacy — we need you!) ….
Without rule of law and equality before the law, what kind of civilisation is it possible to have?
Watertown, MA residents recently found themselves forced from their homes under the barrels of Gov’t. automatic weapons and detained without cause, while their homes were searched without warrant. The citizens of Massachusetts have long since sown the wind…
This local DA has just transformed himself into a darling of the glitterati, the cognoscenti, the party of the hip and the cool.
Watch for Sam Sutter to make a run for Governor.
Ah, so Sam Sutter may not be writing his own paycheck, but he appears to be writing his own ticket… .
If so — he is disgusting.
(btw: still praying about you-know-what, Alan… :))
As a condidate for governor he would have the right to make political choices. As DA he does not. He should resign NOW if he wants to play politics.
According to the DA, the charges were dropped out of consideration for “the children of Bristol County.” Does that mean he believes the children would be better off without electricity?
More the point does he thing they would be better off without a constitution ?!
Jerk!
“I am also extremely pleased that we were able to reach an agreement that symbolizes our commitment at the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office to take a leadership role on this issue.”
Leadership ? He’s supposed to be a prosecutor. He should be leading in applying the law not perverting it.
I have sympathy for those taking direct action ( even if it is misguided ) but this should be decided by a judge, not by the prosecutor making a politically motivated decision not to prosecute.
Dereliction of duty? Misconduct in office ?
Apparently prosecutor Sutton thinks the constitution only applies when you want it to.
If he feels that he is morally bound not to do his job, he should resign.
“LIKE”
Totally agree.
The problem with taking this flippant attitude to whether or not to respect the constitution is, the next time you want to claim freedom of speech or other fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution of the United States, someone else may decide it is convenient to ignore it too.
Very disturbing. And typical since our imperial president took office.
Insane to see how in depth this corruption is going, we’ll we already know courts are corrupt, they also stated that newspapers are not required to decide if what they print is true or not. Orwellian indeed.
Please join us, John cook’s having a IAMA on reddt, he’s a real scientist and really really skeptical.
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2ftwt1/iama_scientist_who_wrote_the_study_finding_97/
This is a giant leap toward anarchy if this is not resolved. The activists are now given the green light to disrupt how they see fit as long as it is for the cause. Just at what level will justice be compromised in the future ? I think it is for the power station to start action against the DA office.
It is not often I disagree with Anthony, but this is one of them.
This is not noble cause corruption, but pure naked political opportunism.
It is election for the Democratic primaries for DA today (Tuesday)
Bristol County is in the heart of the Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Massachusettes and is solid Democrat.
Obviously a man of principle and you can trust what he says!!!
“Four years ago, when announcing that he was seeking a second term as district attorney, Sutter said he would probably not run for a third term in 2014 because he did not see himself being a career district attorney.”
He is running for a third term.
What a wanker.
Just this morning (Australia time), Tim Flannery said that that US deaths from burning coal is 50,000 per year. Would this justify stopping the supply of coal to the power station?
A brief internet search gives 7,500 per year in a 2010 study.
I doubt the science behind claiming even one death caused by burning coal. Were is the control population in this kind of pretend “science”?
Not surprised. This is the People’s Republic of Massachusetts we’re talking about, right?
It is a very bad precedent when we are not all equal before the law.
It is the job of prosecutors to prosecute wrong doings, and decisions not to prosecute should be based entirely upon the strength of evidence and the prospects of success.
The problem is that there is no accountability for actions taken in public office.
It’s a religion. Saul, top Christian persecutor was struck blind on the road to Damascus.
This tosser had his Damascene moment and he’s welcome to it. To all but a handful of alarmists he just appears to have lost his marbles…doubt if he gets re-elected!
Reblogged this on Aussiedlerbetreuung und Behinderten – Fragen and commented:
Staatsanwalt wird edle Sache Klima beschädigt, fällt Gebühren
von Anthony Watts
Sie können über den Klima-Aktivisten, die Gebühren und eine Testversion über Behinderung des Handels durch die Blockade einer anstehenden Kohle Lastkahn auf dem Brayton Punkt Kraftwerk mit einem Hummer Boot hatte gehört haben? Nun, die DA nur eingebrochen, und kündigte er betrunken die Kool-Aid, und basiert auf der Klima März gehen. Video folgt […] , Glück, Auf, meine Heimat!
That’s one funny autotranslation to German…
Useless translation – did you use some online tool?
“Climate change is one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced”
In my 46 years I’ve seen really bad winters and very hot summers, the memorable ones happened when I was a kid. There’s been nothing that’s happened in the last 30 years that was particularly memorable, never mind some kind of ongoing escalation that makes me think there’s any truth to the threatened ‘crisis’, so intelligent people should be sceptical without doing any research.
But as soon as you start to dig past the headlines you find huge holes in every aspect of ‘climate science’ that prove beyond doubt that the climate science is so corrupt the entire profession needs to be disbanded. Adjustment of past records, statistical shenanigans, fudging, guesswork, corruption in peer review, pressure on journals, hiding inconvenient data, suppression of sceptical papers. Lies and deceit percolate through climate science, it clearly can’t be trusted to police itself or provide honest information to governments.
For me it’s exactly the same as a religion, people have to be so stupid to believe this nonsense while looking out of the window and seeing nothing for themselves, or dishonest and motivated by something else, usually money and/or power (bishops and cardinals) but sometimes misguided ideology (the congregation).
I wonder what would happen if he did something similar in a murder case. ‘Well, the victim deserved to die, so I am dropping all charges against the attacker and I’m going to join the vigilante posse they represent’
I used to joke about Climate Alarmism Zombies taking over the world, looks like it might actually be happening.
Oh I finally get it, as the prosecutor, he was supposed to be on the side of the coal barge people and against the lobster boat people, but he reversed his allegiance so now there is no one to defend the rights of the coal barge people.
It took me a while to find the original story from 2013. There doesn’t seem to be an original WUWT link to this lobster boat/Brayton Point power plant story.
I too hope they all “freeze to death” (well at least get frostbite) this winter because of the result of closing coal fired power plants which emit “awful” carbon dioxide. I guess it will take a blackout in MA during the depths of winter to bang home the point that the ends don’t always justify the means.
I wonder what would have happened if the barge had sunk the lobster boat? I guess then he would have had a case worth prosecuting.
as the DA he was supposed to be on the side of the LAW … Sure, if the law is wrong, change it. But as a DA you can not choose which laws you want and which you don’t.
True, but as a juror, you can judge the validity of the law as applied in the case and throw out an unjust application of the law. The verdict says “not guilty” but there are many things involved. The Georgia (US State) Constitution actually says so explicitly though the courts for some reason try to ignore that in their instructions to jurors. Other states may vary in explicitly saying so, but it is a moral obligation of jurors.
File charges against the DA with the state ethics and the state bar. Climate obsession and climate corruption go hand in hand. And as always, follow the money. This stinks of money.
Well the ability to protest is a wonderful thing in this country. MLK was arrested numerous times for his acts of civil disobedience. But he did his jail time equal to his acts. In other words he paid a price, so people would come to understand his view.
It is not civil disobedience if the DA is out there protesting with you, it’s is effectively a government sponsored event. What a disaster of government and law.
Climate alarmism and everthing it touches is seeming to become more corrupted as time goes on.
This might signal a new campaign effort by the AGW folks. Go after the lowest elected officials in the criminal/civil systems (the prosecuters, county attorneys, etc.) and “organize” them. It might be effective since those races are “cheap”. I.E., a prosecutor in most jurisdiction might spend less than 20K. Considerting the hundred of thousands tossed into a single Congressional race, the math works well for them provided they have staffing to run a distribution and intimidation network (which, of course, they do).
It is one way the early Christians defused state suppression.
So it’s ok to ignore the law if we believe in our cause. The President says so, and this equally vacuous DA agrees.
I guess they’ll be sympathetic, then, when those who value freedom take up arms.
What about the Lobsters.
Who is going to protect them from this boat. A case could be made for the necessity defense.
Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.
+1
Brayton Point has been scheduled to close in a few years. It was politically scheduled to be closed, and they really have no idea how they are going to power the 300,000+ homes Brayton serves… so the closure is likely to be pushed out a few months at a time for years and years more, at great expense to the taxpayer.
The tentative plan to start to replace that power is a NG pipeline from Pennsylvania. You should see the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the underground natural gas pipeline through northern MA like it was a 200 mile wide swath of salted-earth destruction…. Complete with town meetings in my town with people proclaiming “SOLAR CAN DO IT ALL, WHAT ARE WE DOING?!?!!” and whatnot.
Many MA residents are fools. Witness Pocahontas Warren’s election.
Fauxchahontas
Fixed it for you.
I hope you are stocking up on generator fuel (and a generator if you don’t have one) so you can run your heat this winter, because you will need it in a New England winter powered by solar power and unicorn flatulence.
I suspect that this action by the DA will encourage more activists to be more and more disruptive. Meanwhile anyone who wants to actually make a living is looking to leave.
Once our own police, prosecutorial, and judicial systems have drunk the Kool-Aid, game over. The creep of dictatorial regulation over self-initiative and public take-over of once private commerce, industry, and business continues.
Leading by Obama’s example. Enforcing only the laws he personally approves of, or exempting from the laws whomever he wants.
Yes. This is corruption of the worst sort. The deliberate, arrogant flouting of the law, the oath of office, and ethics.
The Rule of Law is not perfect, but it is to be preferred over the ‘law’ of Rulers.
When rulers hold themselves above the law (and are permitted to persist in this by their ‘subjects’), not only do we lose the Rule of Law, but we start down the authoritarian high road to tyranny where the laws have no importance compared to the whims of self-important egomaniacal rulers.
Living in MA is so embarrassing
Come on down. We have jobs in Texas. Those that the Californian transplants haven’t beat you to…
I think this DA is a Nam Nutter…..!
Look at the bright side – Hansen et al have been deprived of their show trial and a good deal of PR at the public expense. The march to wherever was going to take place anyway and now will get even less attention.
Remove him!
So for at least the next 3 generations you have documented proof for corrupted, biased representativs of ‘LAW’.
Dont let this sword get rusted.
Hans
course the feds won’t enforce the blocking waterways laws on this one either.
Apparently, it is all about POLITICS, at least according to the NYTs:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/09/us/charges-dropped-against-climate-activists.html?_r=0
District Attorney is an elected position. He’s thinking about the big money donors he will lose if he follows through with actually enforcing the law.
Hey, wait a darn minute! I thought the big money was from the climate-change-d-word industrial-complex! What the heck is going on here?
I sent the following email to Sutter’s email contact person, ashley.l.bendiksen@state.ma.us, and asked her to forward it to District Attorney Sutter:
I am pretty sure that refusing to prosecute a crime based on your political beliefs or the political beliefs of the perpetrators is grounds to dismiss a DA in every single state in the union.
If your legal justice system is controlled by a political persuasion bent on using it to destroy their political enemies, you are living in troubled times. Armed insurrection will no doubt follow.
Bob, there was a time I was sure it was an impeachable offense to launch a war without Congressional authorization, or use the IRS to intimidate political opponents or to let an American ambassador be killed because the events on the ground didn’t match the president’s reelection store line.
by the same logic, me and my trusty cutoff saw can wreak havoc on some nearby eagle shredders/wind turbines.Timber!
Jeez what a jizzweasel (Sam Sutter)
Odd … if this was intended to be a show trial, why did the fervent DA louse up the show trial by dropping the charges?
The end result seems to be less publicity for the cause, and less credibility for the DA’s office. How is that a win for McKibben et al.?
What????? Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter made a surprise appearance in court Monday morning with a statement of his own… that his office was dropping all criminal charges, and that he, himself, would be attending the People’s Climate March in New York City later this month????????
What an intolerable blatant conflict of interest!!!!!! I cannot believe this sort of behaviour is tolerated in the US.
Why hasn’ this man been stood down from his position for gross derelict of his legal duty… to remain impartial, objective and non-partisan?