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Oct 7, 2021Liked by Marianne Williamson

I feel like we've been lobsters in a slowly boiling pot. Now the water is getting pretty hot.

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I read Marianne’s post, along with Chris Hedges’ article and watched the Katie Halper program as well. Bravo to all for speaking out and for continuing to follow Steven’s story! It demonstrates how corporate money and power can override our system of Justice and assault our Constitution, while “the court” is doing all it can to make Steven’s life a living hell.

Although we left Katie’s program with action steps to take in making calls to the Attorney General, our New York politicians and others to press for justice, Chris had a point in saying it’s going to take tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in peaceful protest to get the attention of the powers that be. Yet in 2003, some 10 million people (estimates vary) worldwide marched in the largest protest in history - against the US going to war in Iraq. Who was listening then? In 2019, between 6 - 7 million people worldwide marched in the largest climate strike to date. Who is listening now and taking real action to save Planet Earth as it is heads toward extinction? In 1978, more than 100,000 people marched in Washington DC in support of the Equal Rights Amendment, which has still not been signed into the Constitution.

When does the will of the people prevail?

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The #FreeDonziger Legal Defense Fund

Free Donziger

¨On Friday, October 1st, 2021, Judge Preska sentenced me to six months in jail. It has taken days for me and my family to process this shocking turn of events. I now want to speak directly to my supporters.

First, I want you to know that I believe I could be forced into prison as soon as the week of October 25 unless the federal appellate court intervenes to keep me “out” under house arrest with the ankle bracelet still shackled to my leg. Yes, it appears the “choice” is not between prison and freedom while my appeal winds its way slowly through the courts, but between prison and home confinement. It’s just outrageous given that I have now served four times longer under house arrest than my prison sentence. And if I am allowed to stay home, I likely will have served close to four years under house arrest on a misdemeanor charge even if I win my appeal and get exonerated.

As a result, I am again asking for immediate help. I need to raise $150,000 by Friday, October 22 to hire two people who can carry forward the work if and when I get incarcerated. Please help by donating what you can. (If I don’t get incarcerated, I am hiring them anyway because we need the help.)

Second, I want you to know that I am fine and that my family is standing strong. Obviously, this experience causes great pain to our son in particular. But the overwhelming response from our supporters has thus far fortified our sense that the future will be secure. As many know, I have for years been targeted with withering attacks from 60 Chevron law firms in retaliation for helping Indigenous peoples in Ecuador fight back against the company for dumping billions of gallons of cancer-causing oil waste onto ancestral lands. While we expect those attacks to continue, we are steadfast in our determination to withstand them.

My pending prison sentence is incredibly difficult for me and my family, but for the climate movement as a whole it is potentially a disaster of epic proportions. That is, unless we either stop it or use it as an opportunity to build this campaign even stronger.

Many legal observers believe my sentence is a slap in the face by Judge Preska to the rule of law. It comes after five respected jurists from the top human rights legal body in the world, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, issued a unanimous decision calling my home detention “arbitrary” and a violation of multiple provisions of international law. The body concluded that my treatment violates my right to a fair trial and my right to an impartial judge. The U.N. jurists also demanded that the United States government IMMEDIATELY free me and pay compensation for the time that I have lost while locked up in home imprisonment.

Despite the fact that the decision from the U.N. Working Group requested that the U.S. government “take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr. Steven Donziger without delay,” Judge Preska continued to do Chevron’s bidding to silence me and send a message of intimidation to all Earth Defenders.

Day by day, the stakes of this case grow higher. The more Judges Preska and Kaplan attack me, the stronger our movement seems to become. My appellate attorneys already have filed our challenge to this conviction. Now it is as critical as ever that we put an end to Chevron’s two-decade campaign to evade complying with court orders that it compensate the Indigenous peoples in the Amazon that it poisoned.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 68 Nobel Laureates, 475 lawyers and human rights defenders, and several members of Congress, including AOC and Rep. Jim McGovern, have joined us in this fight. Chevron’s plan to silence me is backfiring. But we now must focus on increasing our reach and taking our leverage higher.

My sentencing on October 1 was an emotional day for my family. We are happy to be home for the time being, but we know jail looms on the horizon. With your help, we must continue to fight back and challenge these unprecedented attacks by the fossil fuel industry on the environmental movement. We can and must prevail.

Please help us to expose this incredible human rights violation and ensure that NO environmental advocate or Earth Defender ever goes through this again. Help us hire staff to keep the work going stronger than ever even if I go to prison and am unable to communicate or work. Will you please chip in $500, $250, $100, $50, $25, or whatever you can today to help fight Judge Preska’s decision and keep me out of jail while guaranteeing this work continues?

As always, thank you so much for the solidarity. It means more to us than you can possibly imagine.¨

Steven Donziger

https://donorbox.org/steve-donziger-legal-defense-7-3-2/?utm_source=EM_F_211007jail_J_SD_A_8_G_N_B2&amount=25

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The question remains: how do we get term limits imposed on our legislative branch !? That , in itself , would do wonders to curtail the corrupt lifetime politicians who are in the pocket of all the corporate interests!

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We need to bring back Occupy, so why don't we at least TRY. I read Chris Hedge's article after listening to you, Donziger and Chris Hedges on Katie Halper's program tonight; his statement that this over the top case by judge Kaplan and judge Presca is intentional as a show of force to the rest of us says to me we must bring back Occupy. We must bring back Occupy. We must. And we can start with an action based on what Chris Hedges said tonight - a presence, a non-violent presence of 500,000 strong showing up at a non-threatening distance from the Dept of Justice or other appropriate site and reading Chris Hedge's article, every single day, 365 days a year for as long as it takes. Each day, different 'We The People' can take turns reading the facts for all to hear. And so perhaps begin Occupy; but this time it will be so widespread that it can not be shut down. It must carry on. So how do we begin Marianne? Can you help us make a beginning?

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Brilliant. Once again #nailed it. Keep the faith Marianne. Keep shining the beacon of truth. Your soul is making progress. We’re with you.

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