We have until December 30 to let the ND Supreme Court know that we want out-of-state attorneys to be allowed to defend the water protectors. After you click on "read more," there's a template for an email. It takes 2 minutes to copy and paste and will make a big difference.

To: supclerkofcourt@ndcourts.gov

Subject: Supreme Court No. 20160436

In the body of the email, put this:

Re: In the Matter of a Petition to Permit Temporary Provision of Legal Services by Qualified Attorneys From Outside North Dakota

I urge that the petition be granted so that all defendants charged for any NoDAPL actions be granted due process.

Thank you.

Your Name
Address
Telephone

Here's the original petition to the court.

IN THE SUPREME COURT
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

NOTICE OF COMMENT

Supreme Court No. 20160436

In the Matter of a Petition to Permit Temporary Provision of Legal Services by Qualified Attorneys From Outside North Dakota

[¶ 1] On December 14, 2016, a Petition to Permit Temporary Provision of Legal Services by Qualified Attorneys from Outside North Dakota, affidavit of William L. Tilton, Exhibits, and proposed order were filed. The petition is available at http://www.ndcourts.gov/Court/Notices/Notices.htm. Individuals who do not have internet access may contact the Office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court to obtain a copy of the proposal. The Court considered the matter, and

[¶ 2] ORDERED, any person wishing to comment on the proposed amendments may do so in writing no later than 4:00 p.m., Friday, December 30, 2016. Written comments may be e-mailed to Penny Miller, Clerk of the Supreme Court, at supclerkofcourt@ndcourts.gov, or addressed to 600 E. Boulevard Ave., Bismarck, ND 58505-0530.

[¶ 4] The Supreme Court of the State of North Dakota, with the Honorable Gerald W. VandeWalle, Chief Justice, and the Honorable Dale V. Sandstrom, the Honorable Carol Ronning Kapsner, the Honorable Daniel J. Crothers, and the Honorable Lisa Fair McEvers, Justices, directed the Clerk of the Supreme Court to enter the above order.

Dated: December 15, 2016

Penny Miller
Clerk
North Dakota Supreme Court

Please send the email now -- before you continue reading.

Two Water Protectors Convicted

On Tuesday, Benjamin Schapiro, 30, of Ohio, and Steven Voliva, 62, of Washington, were found guilty of misdemeanors because they allegedly blocked a road to enable a caravan of water protectors to proceed to a demonstration site. If you read this account from the Dickinson Press, the problem with the lack of attorneys becomes quite clear. It's worth reading the whole article for an analysis of the situation in Morton County.

the trial . . . was not without confusion and objections: Voliva first reached his defense attorney, William Thomason, shortly before trial and showed up seemingly unexpected in the courtroom midway through a 9 a.m. pretrial hearing. Kent Morrow, representing Shapiro, speculated that he was missing a key police report. . . . Two other men arrested in the same incident were supposed to go to trial Tuesday, as well; but one did not have an attorney and was not in court. The other is in California and reached his attorney, Bob Quick, this past weekend, according to Quick.

No representative of the Morton County State's Attorney's Office appeared at the pretrial hearing to respond to the objections, [but] South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick was determined to proceed.

The article also addresses the problem of getting a fair jury in Morton County. The jury that was chosen for this case deliberated for less than an hour and then found both men guilty.

Romanick gave them 10-day suspended sentences, meaning they will serve no jail time if they successfully complete a year on unsupervised probation. He also ordered $500 in restitution to law enforcement and $500 in reimbursement to their public defenders, along with mandatory court fees.

Romanick's decision to order reimbursement to the attorneys came upon a request from [Prosecutor Ladd] Erickson. The prosecutor told the judge in court he intended to seek a hearing for reimbursement after the trial, because he contends the protesters are seeking to do economic harm to Morton County through their arrests. The defense attorneys opposed this, since their clients were indigent enough to qualify for appointed counsel, and said they had not tracked their hours.

The added insult of having to "reimburse" the sheriff's department that has been abusing the water protectors is hard to swallow. And the hypocrisy of these men being charged with blocking a road, when the cops and the mercenaries are still maintaining the blockade at the Highway 1806 bridge, is glaring.

Drone footage below (9:54). The audio is choppy, but you can see the militarized encampments of the mercenaries, the vehicle-staging areas, razor-wire barriers running across the hills, the destruction they’re causing just by driving all over the land, the 24-hour surveillance and lights on top of sacred burial grounds, and some unknown electronic equipment (can anyone identify what they are?)

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6_QBq8oJzs]

To donate to the Water Protector Legal Collective, use this link.