[Pnews] Lawyers Argue Jessica Reznicek's Actions Do Not Constitute Terrorism

[Prisoner News]

popularresistance.org
<https://popularresistance.org/lawyers-argue-jessica-rezniceks-actions-do-not-constitute-terrorism/>
Lawyers Argue Jessica Reznicek's Actions Do Not Constitute Terrorism
By Free Jessica Reznicek, Popular Resistance.
------------------------------
[image: image.png]

Above photo: Los Angeles Catholic Worker.

St. Paul, MN – In a defining moment
<https://abcnews.go.com/US/climate-activists-fight-terrorism-sentence-impact-future-protests/story?id=84345514>
for the climate justice movement and for all civil rights, the court will
decide whether or not to uphold a “domestic terrorist enhancement” that an
Iowa court applied to Reznicek’s prison sentence. Reznicek argues that the
terrorism enhancement was both illegally and unjustly applied.

The appeal is supported by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR),
National Lawyers Guild, Water Protectors Legal Collective, and the Climate
Defense Project. “If Jessica Reznicek’s acts can be punished as terrorism,”
says an amicus brief
<https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/d0e95be6-4478-4ea4-9b9f-52292fcf6d47/downloads/Amicus%20Brief%20Three%20CCR%20and%20Dean%20Sudha%20Setty.pdf?ver=1643600497783>
filed by CCR, “the United States will have moved so far past the
international consensus as to be operating in a completely different realm.”

Nearly 100 supporters of Jessica Reznicek dialed into the 8th Circuit Court
of Appeals today to listen in as her attorney argued in front of a panel of
three appellate judges, Hon. Jonathan A. Kobes, Hon. David R. Stras, Hon.
Ralph R. Erickson, that the terrorism ehancement imposed at her sentencing
by request of the Department of Justice by District Judge Rebecca Goodgame
Ebinger was misapplied.  The 8th Circuit Court of Appeal will release their
decision in the coming weeks.

Reznicek’s attorney Robert Richman argued that the terrorism enhancement
does not apply in Jess’ case since her actions were not “calculated to
influence or affect the conduct of the government or retaliate against
government conduct.” The government prosecutor argued that even though
Jessica’s actions targeted private property, that the terrorism enhancement
must apply since she referred to the government’s regulatory failure of
approving this pipeline in her public statement. In July 2020, a federal
judge found this permitting process that Jessica was referring to to be
illegal
<https://unicornriot.ninja/2020/federal-judge-orders-dakota-access-pipeline-shut-down/>.
Reznicek’s attorney said “the court should find that the error resulted in
a five-fold increase in the [sentencing] guideline range.”

Robert Richman argued that under the prosecutor’s position, every time
there is a political protest that tries to generate public attention to
affect policy (the way our democracy works, he notes), this may trigger the
terrorism enhancement. In the appeal brief
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IbBOWQv8CwyhEg5cLu0r1YNug-QanFpI/view?usp=sharing>
Richman states that Jessica’s actions had, “at most an indirect and
incidental effect on the government.”

The amicus brief
<https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/d0e95be6-4478-4ea4-9b9f-52292fcf6d47/downloads/Amicus%20Brief%20Three%20CCR%20and%20Dean%20Sudha%20Setty.pdf?ver=1643600497783>
filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights details the misapplication of
the “terrorism enhancement” to Jess’ case. The brief notes “..the natural
risk of a broad definition of terrorism is misapplication of the terrorism
enhancement to traditional means of civil resistance: for example, a sit-in
style protest near train tracks, a demonstration at a military exercise, or
opposition to government immigration policies at airports around the
country might next be subject to the label of terrorism.” The brief’s
authors write
<https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/d0e95be6-4478-4ea4-9b9f-52292fcf6d47/downloads/Amicus%20Brief%20Three%20CCR%20and%20Dean%20Sudha%20Setty.pdf?ver=1643600497783>
“if
Jessica Reznicek’s acts can be punished as terrorism, the United States
will have moved so far past the international consensus as to be operating
in a completely different realm.”

Following the hearing, the Campaign to Free Jessica Reznicek said, “we are
extremely hopeful that the judges recognized that her actions were not
terrorism.  We are hopeful that Jessica’s 8 year sentence will be
overturned and her case will be sent back for resentencing.  No matter what
they decide, we are prepared for all outcomes and will be with Jessica
until the very end.”

In 2017 Jessica Reznicek and a partner from the Catholic Worker Movement
publicly claimed responsibility for acts of vandalism against the Dakota
Access Pipeline. In February, 2021 she pled guilty to a single count of
Conspiracy to Damage an Energy Facility. In June, 2021 an Iowa judge
imposed a “terrorism enhancement” at the prosecution’s request and
sentenced Reznicek to 8 years in prison with restitution of over $3 million
to be paid to Energy Transfer LLC. No one was injured by Reznicek’s acts of
civil disobedience.

Excessive punishment for water protectors is on the rise where more states
are passing harsh laws that target protestors
<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12042021/laws-pipeline-protests-line-3/>,
which have been architected and funded
<https://archive.thinkprogress.org/criminalize-pipeline-resistance-sessions-40828c2cb1e6/>
by the fossil fuel industry. Jessica wrote in a 2021 statement
<https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/d0e95be6-4478-4ea4-9b9f-52292fcf6d47/downloads/Jess_s%20Court%20Statement.pdf?ver=1643600497782>
to
the court, “I am not a political person. I am certainly not a terrorist. I
am simply a person who cares deeply about an extremely basic human right
that is under threat: water.”

Listen to the May 13th oral arguments here
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/10Rq8wQnkFuzp0w5TGnWpWM5E9itwpSNE/view?usp=drivesdk>
.

Jessica Reznicek’s appellant brief
<https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/d0e95be6-4478-4ea4-9b9f-52292fcf6d47/downloads/Jessica_s%20Appeal.pdf?ver=1643600497783>
& reply brief
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IbBOWQv8CwyhEg5cLu0r1YNug-QanFpI/view?usp=drivesdk>
are linked.

Amicus briefs filed in support of her appeal can be found here
<https://supportjessicareznicek.com/legal>.

Over 15,000 people and 100 orgs have signed a petition in support of her
objection to the terrorism enhancement and can be viewed here
<https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/protecting-water-is-never-terrorism-repeal-jessica-rezniceks-terrorist-enhancement?source=direct_link&>
.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20220514/047d00ca/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 606225 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20220514/047d00ca/attachment.png>