This article by Beth Burger appeared in The Columbus Dispatch, September 30, 2018. The Ohio Supreme Court is being asked to reconsider whether a proposal to ban oil and natural gas extraction and waste disposal in Columbus should go on the Nov. 6 ballot. Last month, the Franklin County Board of Elections denied the environmental [...]
Organizers in Toledo work to save their drinking water. This article by Valerie Vande Panne was published on Alternet, September 27th, 2018. Imagine for a moment, putting the rights of nature into public policy: Your town charter, your state constitution, or even federal law. Imagine, for a moment, giving the Great Lakes—the world’s largest source [...]
Residents in Columbus and Toledo are being told they don’t have the authority to vote to protect their drinking water this November. This article by Simon Davis-Cohen appeared in The Progressive, September 25, 2018. Markie Miller, an organizer from Toledo, Ohio, has been working for more than two years to pass a Lake Erie Bill of [...]
Voting rights and Lake Erie disregarded as justices dispute technicalities A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from September 24, 2018. TOLEDO, OH: On Friday, the Ohio Supreme Court blocked from the November ballot a Toledo citizen’s initiative. The Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) would have recognized the right of Lake Erie to be [...]
This article by Sharon Lerner appeared in The Intercept on September 15th, 2018. Brief commentary by Community Rights US Media Team member Curt Hubatch: It's no wonder, after reading the first two paragraphs of this article, why the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico said what they said about the growing Community Rights movement in the [...]
Ralph Nader interviews Jefferey Clements on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour. This 72 minute interview, and roughly 30 minute Q and A at the end, can be listened to and downloaded HERE. Brief commentary by Community Rights US Media Team member Curt Hubatch: At 47:57 in the Q and A Ralph fielded a question about the [...]
This article by Will Falk was published on the Voices of Diversity website, September 3rd, 2018. I need to come clean. When I joined Colorado River Ecosystem v. Colorado, the first-ever federal lawsuit to seek personhood and the rights of nature for a major ecosystem,my intentions were not completely sincere. The truth is, I never thought we [...]
This article by Tom Henry appeared in The Toledo Blade on August 31st, 2018. Two activist groups have filed separate lawsuits challenging the controversial decisions made by the Lucas County Board of Elections this past Tuesday to prevent their citizen-led initiatives from being placed on the Nov. 6 ballot. On Thursday, Toledoans for Safe Water [...]
Our legal system needs a radical overhaul that asserts the rights of the whole ecosystem. A forthcoming conference will discuss the set out the vision for a Wild Law. This article by Shehana Gomez appeared in The Ecologist, August 27th, 2018. Re-wilding the Law might sound like an odd proposition, even a contradiction. Law is not [...]
No justice in Athens County as residents are denied right to vote on qualified citizen initiative This press release by The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) was published, August 17th, 2018. ATHENS, OHIO: On August 8th, the Fourth District Court of Appeals dismissed the Athens County Bill of Rights Committee’s (ACBORC) appeal to place [...]
