Mahoning County BOE blocks qualified citizen initiatives from the ballot in Youngstown, while Wood County BOE advances a similar measure in Bowling Green A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from September 7, 2017. YOUNGSTOWN, OH: Yesterday marks the first time a Board of Elections has stopped residents of a chartered municipality from [...]
Citizens challenge HB463 as officials use it to block county charter initiatives banning fracking A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from August 22, 2017. Broadview Heights, OH: Athens and Medina County, OH, residents, are taking their right to vote on initiatives creating county charters to the Ohio Supreme Court. County Boards of [...]
This article by Rural America In These Times originally appeared in Rural America In These Times, August 8, 2017. In their seventh attempt to put an end to the environmental threats the oil and gas industry pose to their land, water and right to self-governance, a community rights group in Youngstown, Ohio, is attempting to amend [...]
Youngstown residents submit signatures for their Community Rights Fair Elections Initiative A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from August 7, 2017. Today, a long-standing community rights group in Youngstown, OH, submitted over 1,900 signatures to qualify their Youngstown Fair Election Bill of Rights initiative for the November ballot. The measure is the [...]
The Siletz River watershed in Lincoln County, Oregon, files a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that attempts to overturn its right to be free of aerial sprayed pesticides A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from July 24, 2017. Lincoln County, Oregon: Last week, the Siletz River watershed in Lincoln County, OR, [...]
A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from July 15, 2017. Spokane, WA: Federal Judge Thomas O. Rice granted the federal government’s motion to dismiss Holmquist vs. United States – a lawsuit brought by Spokane area residents contending that federal law is interfering with local lawmaking powers to address the constitutional right to a [...]
This letter to the editor by James J. Simonelli originally appeared in The Gazette, July 15, 2017. A copy of it appears on the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund's website. "Enough!" With that single exclamatory decree, at the board of elections meeting Monday, Chairwoman Pam Miller declared democracy in Medina County dead. MORE...
Athens and Medina County residents vow to continue fighting for right to initiative, right to ban fracking A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from July 11, 2017. Broadview Heights, OH: Last week, Athens and Medina County residents submitted petitions to place community rights county charter initiatives on the November ballot, well [...]
An oil and gas corporation sued a community that is seeking to protect itself from frack waste… Now the corporation is going after their lawyers Corporation demands $560,000 from public interest lawyers that are defending community A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from July 7, 2017. MERCERSBURG, PA: A major oil and [...]
Spokane residents’ federal lawsuit points to government’s failure to protect their right to a healthy climate A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from July 6, 2017. Spokane, WA: Spokane residents fighting for the right to a healthy climate will have their day in court on Wednesday, July 12th, in the case of [...]