On The Front Lines
Victory: Environmental Activist Found Not Guilty of Trespassing While Protesting Mountaintop Mining by Dominion Virginia Power
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A Charlottesville environmentalist represented by The Rutherford Institute has been found not guilty of trespass charges brought against him after he refused to leave the shoulder of a public highway while protesting a public utility's involvement in mountaintop removal mining. Chris Walters was arrested and charged with trespassing on May 12, 2011, after refusing a demand by the police to move from the shoulder of Route 250 West in Charlottesville near the entrance to the Boar's Head Inn, where Dominion Virginia Power was holding a shareholders' meeting. Walters was exonerated of the charge after Institute attorneys pointed out that a document filed by the prosecutor showed that the place where Walters was standing was not part of the Inn's property.
"This is a victory for the First Amendment right to assemble and protest," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Hopefully, the police will know better next time and not impede the constitutional rights of protesters."
Mountaintop removal mining involves the removal of the summit or summit ridge of a mountain in order to provide easier access to coal seams. The practice (the subject of the recent documentary "The Last Mountain," featuring Robert Kennedy, Jr.) has been sharply criticized as having serious environmental impact, including loss of biodiversity, that cannot be mitigated. Reports indicate Dominion Virginia Power is a large consumer of coal mined using mountaintop removal.
On May 12, 2011, Dominion Virginia Power shareholders assembled at Boar's Head Inn to consider a resolution to limit the utility company's purchase of coal derived from mountaintop removal. That same day, Chris Walters and a number of other grassroots environmental activists gathered near the entrance to the Boar's Head Inn on U.S. Route 250 to protest Dominion Virginia Power's practice of mountaintop removal mining.
As Walters and others walked with signs along the shoulder of the south side of Route 250, they were approached by Albemarle County police, who ordered them to move to the other side of the road. The protesters were informed that they were on private property owned by the Boar's Head Inn and that the property owner was demanding they leave. Although most of the other protesters moved, Walters refused to do so, asserting that he was on a public right of way.
When he continued to stand his ground, rebuffing a second order to move, Walters was arrested for trespassing. At the time of the arrest, Walters was standing between the south side guardrail and the paved portion of the highway. Walters pleaded not guilty at his May 20, 2011 court appearance.
Affiliate attorney Ned Michie of Charlottesville, Va., assisted The Rutherford Institute in defending Walters.
