Six-Month Sentence for Lawyer Who Took on Chevron: 'International Outrage'

[Kid Berwyn]

For some reason, this wasn’t on my tee vee.

Six-Month Sentence for Lawyer Who Took on Chevron Denounced as 'International Outrage'

Conviction of Steven Donziger, said one critic, "perfectly encapsulates how corporate power has twisted the U.S. justice system to protect corporate interests and punish their enemies."

JULIA CONLEY
Common Dreams, October 1, 2021

Environmental justice advocates and other progressives on Friday condemned a federal judge's decision Friday to sentence human rights lawyer Steven Donziger to six months in prison—following more than two years of house arrest related to a lawsuit he filed decades ago against oil giant Chevron.

The sentence, delivered by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in New York City, represents "an international outrage," tweeted journalist Emma Vigeland following its announcement.

Snip…

In 2019, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York—a former corporate lawyer with investments in Chevron—held Donziger in contempt of court after he refused to disclose privileged information about his clients to the fossil fuel industry. Kaplan placed Donziger under house arrest, where he has remained under strict court monitoring for 787 days.

In addition to Kaplan's own connections to Chevron, the judge appointed private attorneys to prosecute the case, including one who had worked for a firm that represented the oil giant.

Preska, who found Donziger guilty of the contempt charges in July, is a leader of the right-wing Federalist Society, which counts Chevron among its financial backers.

Continues…

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/10/01/six-month-sentence-lawyer-who-took-chevron-denounced-international-outrage

The Feudalist Society, more like.

[Duppers]

1. This is an outrage!

A total miscarriage of justice. I hope the ACLU & more environmental groups are getting involved.

R&R

[Kid Berwyn]

2. The purpose of a "Show Trial"

Link to tweet

Solzhenitsyn warned us.

[Duppers]

7. "The West is veering towards moral and spiritual bankruptcy."

It's all about big money. Greed.

[drmeow]

23. Veering, my ass

We've already been there for decades.

[Duppers]

27. Well yeah - indeed true. Was quoting Solzhenitsyn

Who Kid B referenced above.

👍

[drmeow]

28. I know

I was responding to the quote, not to you. Hard to make something like that clear!

[Duppers]

30. Thanks!

[2Gingersnaps]

10. They need to call it something besides "contempt,"

because of course you have contempt for such corruption.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. That judge has some conflicts here

[lagomorph777]

4. Just call him Judge Exxon.

[SunSeeker]

16. In this case, Judge Chevron. nt

[lagomorph777]

17. Oops - correct.

[Midnight Writer]

5. Pardon, please.

[KS Toronado]

12. Exactly what I'm thinking......

All New Yorkers should flood Gov. Kathy Hochul's office with demands for a pardon,
and an investigation into the 2 judges.

[Wounded Bear]

14. This looks federal. It would take action by Pres Biden...nt

[LeftInTX]

15. She can't. These are federal charges

Southern District of New York is the Manhattan area.

This is where alot of Wall Street crimes are tried.

He can appeal his conviction and sentence, but this seems like one convoluted international law case, that is way beyond my pay scale. I think I saw that movie on Netflix.

She is a Republican judge, but the first judge handling the case was a Clinton appointee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Preska

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Donziger

[Demovictory9]

6. k&r

[Farmer-Rick]

8. This is how fascism works.

Judges and laws are there to ensure the profits of corporations which ensures the endless wealth of the filthy rich. Laws and judges don't hold criminals accountable or protect all citizens equally. They don't even interpret laws accurately if those laws make a corporation's profits less. Have you read some of those free trade agreements? Corporations are wealth extraction systems that couldn't work without huge unfair legal protections.

No matter the destruction to all we hold dear, profits, above all else, must be protected against the concerns of common men and women.

[Justice matters.]

11. Good guys get locked up while orange terrorists walk the streets scot-free!

What a country...

[erronis]

13. "is a leader of the right-wing Federalist Society"

Says it all.

"Preska, who found Donziger guilty of the contempt charges in July, is a leader of the right-wing Federalist Society, which counts Chevron among its financial backers."

Or to paraphrase you: The Fraudulent Society, more like.

[lagomorph777]

19. The Feudalist Society

[uponit7771]

24. WOW !!!

[SunSeeker]

18. It's judges Preska and Lewis who should be in jail.

[calimary]

20. That's actually a good name change. The Feudalist Society.

Start contaminating their brand.

It just might stick. Then they’d have to start explaining themselves and pesky unwanted questions could start, and when reporters start getting the feeling that somebody’s trying to dance them off into a side room, then things REALLY start complicating their lives.

[TigressDem]

32. Sounds about reich.

[calimary]

34. Ooooooooh good one!!!

[TigressDem]

35. Thanks!

Hubby is a pun master. Guess it's rubbing off on me.

[sarchasm]

22. Donziger is a hero.

WTF? A RICO complaint? ... because they wouldn't give them some film footage? A 211 page complaint spanning some 50+ years of petrochemical environmental destruction in Ecuador. The hours spent on that document made some assholes a shit-ton of blood money. Fucking hell!

I got news for you Chevron, your reputation was already in the trash way before this.

[TigressDem]

36. This K&R

[BeckyDem]

25. Outrageous!

[Crunchy Frog]

26. Well, it's not like he did something minor, like trying to overthrow the government. nt

[Duppers]

29. Another K&R

For the mouth-dropping incredibly of this.

Putting an attorney in jail for exposing the TRUTH❗

[TigressDem]

31. Biden has PARDON POWER .... looks like a good use of one to me. Set Steve Donziger FREE!!

[cadoman]

33. I've been following this for a while -- it was a total systemic failure of our courts

We have a huge problem with the types of people that are running our judicial system. They are absolutely rotten.