Last month, UK judge Christopher Hehir shocked Britain when he handed down a five-year jail sentence to Roger Hallam, a climate activist with the Just Stop Oil movement, and four-year sentences to four of his accomplices. The convictions came as the result of a 2022 British law criminalizing "conspiracy to commit a public nuisance," defined as any action that causes "direct harm" to the public.
In imposing the sentences, Hehir's words were refreshing: The five individuals, he said, all well into adulthood, willfully broke the law and caused nearly $2.5 million in damages for the traffic delays and belated police responses - and, crucially, they understood the potential consequences of their actions.
The "harm" imposed by the defendants, Hehir ruled, was "intended"- their rolling roadblocks forced people to miss flights, funerals, exams and more. And, he said, the climate "emergency" the defendants cited to justify their action was not an excuse, but an aggravating factor, in sentencing.
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