Live data from Hacker News

Modern Civil Disobedience - Tim DeChristopher

commondreams.org

1–10 of 37 posts

Re: Modern Civil Disobedience - Tim DeChristopher

#3
How often does someone get sent to prison for 2 years because they bid at an auction more than they could afford to pay at the moment they made the bid? Is it very common to prosecute this in a criminal trial, or is this completely unheard of?

Re: Modern Civil Disobedience - Tim DeChristopher

#5
post #3

How often does someone get sent to prison for 2 years because they bid at an auction more than they could afford to pay at the moment they made the bid? Is it very common to prosecute this in a criminal trial, or is this completely unheard of?

not so, he was able and willing to pay for the land, but the BLM doesnt allow people to buy land w/o drilling for oil. So he was charged with "disrupting a lawful government activity" - even though in fact those BLM auctions are NOT lawful.

Re: Modern Civil Disobedience - Tim DeChristopher

#6

He was essentially being punished, made an example of for political reasons. I'm not an environmentalist, but thats not right.

Why aren't you an environmentalist? I'm not suggesting it's the only philosophy one can legitimately hold, but I'm wondering where your disagreement with the core tenets of environmentalism (sustainable growth and concern for human health and ecological balance) comes from.

Re: Modern Civil Disobedience - Tim DeChristopher

#8
post #5
post #3

How often does someone get sent to prison for 2 years because they bid at an auction more than they could afford to pay at the moment they made the bid? Is it very common to prosecute this in a criminal trial, or is this completely unheard of?

not so, he was able and willing to pay for the land, but the BLM doesnt allow people to buy land w/o drilling for oil. So he was charged with "disrupting a lawful government activity" - even though in fact those BLM auctions are NOT lawful.

Could you provide some evidence for Mr DeChristopher's ability to acquire $1.8M in short order? The actual issue seems to have much more to do with the legality of the auction than with whether or not he honestly intended to purchase the land for development.

Re: Modern Civil Disobedience - Tim DeChristopher

#9
post #5
post #3

How often does someone get sent to prison for 2 years because they bid at an auction more than they could afford to pay at the moment they made the bid? Is it very common to prosecute this in a criminal trial, or is this completely unheard of?

not so, he was able and willing to pay for the land, but the BLM doesnt allow people to buy land w/o drilling for oil. So he was charged with "disrupting a lawful government activity" - even though in fact those BLM auctions are NOT lawful.

Using illegal methods to disrupt illegal activities is not legal. You can't shoot a guy to stop him running a red light. There are rules about Citizen's arrests, but they are pretty specific.

On the other hand, making a nuisance bid at an auction (especially when you are forthright about your actions, which he claims he was) doesn't seem like a serious criminal act.

Re: Modern Civil Disobedience - Tim DeChristopher

#10

He was essentially being punished, made an example of for political reasons. I'm not an environmentalist, but thats not right.

Why aren't you an environmentalist? I'm not suggesting it's the only philosophy one can legitimately hold, but I'm wondering where your disagreement with the core tenets of environmentalism (sustainable growth and concern for human health and ecological balance) comes from.

Can't speak for dublinclontarf, but personally I'm not too concerned for the environment simply because I'm fairly indifferent as to whether mankind makes it or not.

The Universe has been doing quite well without us for billions of years and will continue to do so if we are too dumb to keep our little rock habitable (which I suspect may be the case).

Oh and we're not planning to have kids :)

Post reply on HN