SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Insulate Britain supporters hold banners as they protest outside the Inner London Crown Court on March 10, 2023.
(Photo: Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)
Dozens Say 'Prosecute Us Too' If 68-Year-Old Climate Activist Is Charged Over Peaceful Protest
"In the face of such violations of our ancient liberties, it should come as no surprise that members of the public are ready to take a stand."
Aug 17, 2023
In a show of solidarity with a retired social worker and climate activist who is facing a possible two years in jail for holding a sign, 40 members of the U.K. public on Thursday urged the solicitor general for England and Wales to also prosecute them if he decides to charge 68-year-old Trudi Warner.
Warner was arrested earlier this year after holding a placard that read, "Jurors: you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience," outside of Inner London Crown Court, where climate protesters with Insulate Britain were on trial to face charges stemming from disruptive demonstrations.
The U.K.-based Good Law Project notes that the legal right referenced by Warner's sign "was established in 1670, after a judge imprisoned a jury for reaching a verdict he would not accept. The incident gave rise to a new ruling that juries have the freedom to reach decisions independently."
As The Guardian reported Thursday, Warner's protest came after a judge barred Insulate Britain defendants from "mentioning the climate crisis, insulation, or any motivation for their direct action."
Warner "was committed to the Old Bailey for contempt of court proceedings, where a high court judge referred the case to the solicitor general, Michael Tomlinson," the newspaper added. "Warner... is said to have stood by the judge's car park entrance which was being used by jurors and showed her sign to people she believed to be jurors in the trial—some of whom were."
In a letter to Tomlinson on Thursday, dozens of people who have engaged in demonstrations just like the one for which Warner was arrested wrote that "the context for Trudi's action is a concerted and cynical program to erode the right to trial by jury."
"In the face of such violations of our ancient liberties, it should come as no surprise that members of the public are ready to take a stand," the letter reads. "Such was the context for Trudi Warner's simple and truthful sign. Like Trudi, we are willing to defend the principle of the right to trial by jury, which includes the right to acquit despite a direction from the judge that there is no defense, even if it leads to our arrest and imprisonment."
"Since we, the undersigned, have taken precisely the same action as Trudi, if you intend to proceed with your application, we invite you to prosecute us too," the letter states.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In a show of solidarity with a retired social worker and climate activist who is facing a possible two years in jail for holding a sign, 40 members of the U.K. public on Thursday urged the solicitor general for England and Wales to also prosecute them if he decides to charge 68-year-old Trudi Warner.
Warner was arrested earlier this year after holding a placard that read, "Jurors: you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience," outside of Inner London Crown Court, where climate protesters with Insulate Britain were on trial to face charges stemming from disruptive demonstrations.
The U.K.-based Good Law Project notes that the legal right referenced by Warner's sign "was established in 1670, after a judge imprisoned a jury for reaching a verdict he would not accept. The incident gave rise to a new ruling that juries have the freedom to reach decisions independently."
As The Guardian reported Thursday, Warner's protest came after a judge barred Insulate Britain defendants from "mentioning the climate crisis, insulation, or any motivation for their direct action."
Warner "was committed to the Old Bailey for contempt of court proceedings, where a high court judge referred the case to the solicitor general, Michael Tomlinson," the newspaper added. "Warner... is said to have stood by the judge's car park entrance which was being used by jurors and showed her sign to people she believed to be jurors in the trial—some of whom were."
In a letter to Tomlinson on Thursday, dozens of people who have engaged in demonstrations just like the one for which Warner was arrested wrote that "the context for Trudi's action is a concerted and cynical program to erode the right to trial by jury."
"In the face of such violations of our ancient liberties, it should come as no surprise that members of the public are ready to take a stand," the letter reads. "Such was the context for Trudi Warner's simple and truthful sign. Like Trudi, we are willing to defend the principle of the right to trial by jury, which includes the right to acquit despite a direction from the judge that there is no defense, even if it leads to our arrest and imprisonment."
"Since we, the undersigned, have taken precisely the same action as Trudi, if you intend to proceed with your application, we invite you to prosecute us too," the letter states.
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
In a show of solidarity with a retired social worker and climate activist who is facing a possible two years in jail for holding a sign, 40 members of the U.K. public on Thursday urged the solicitor general for England and Wales to also prosecute them if he decides to charge 68-year-old Trudi Warner.
Warner was arrested earlier this year after holding a placard that read, "Jurors: you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience," outside of Inner London Crown Court, where climate protesters with Insulate Britain were on trial to face charges stemming from disruptive demonstrations.
The U.K.-based Good Law Project notes that the legal right referenced by Warner's sign "was established in 1670, after a judge imprisoned a jury for reaching a verdict he would not accept. The incident gave rise to a new ruling that juries have the freedom to reach decisions independently."
As The Guardian reported Thursday, Warner's protest came after a judge barred Insulate Britain defendants from "mentioning the climate crisis, insulation, or any motivation for their direct action."
Warner "was committed to the Old Bailey for contempt of court proceedings, where a high court judge referred the case to the solicitor general, Michael Tomlinson," the newspaper added. "Warner... is said to have stood by the judge's car park entrance which was being used by jurors and showed her sign to people she believed to be jurors in the trial—some of whom were."
In a letter to Tomlinson on Thursday, dozens of people who have engaged in demonstrations just like the one for which Warner was arrested wrote that "the context for Trudi's action is a concerted and cynical program to erode the right to trial by jury."
"In the face of such violations of our ancient liberties, it should come as no surprise that members of the public are ready to take a stand," the letter reads. "Such was the context for Trudi Warner's simple and truthful sign. Like Trudi, we are willing to defend the principle of the right to trial by jury, which includes the right to acquit despite a direction from the judge that there is no defense, even if it leads to our arrest and imprisonment."
"Since we, the undersigned, have taken precisely the same action as Trudi, if you intend to proceed with your application, we invite you to prosecute us too," the letter states.
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.