Subject Line: Jury Nullification & Malheur Madness

Dear __,

The stunning acquittal of the Bundy-led occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge may fuel a resurgence of Western militia violence – or it may be just a blip on the radar tracking a dying movement. What happens next will be key.

Jury nullification is when a jury does not dispute the facts but thinks application of legal sanctions would be unfair. It is not clear that was the case with the Malheur jurors, one of whom pointed to the prosecution’s failure to prove the requisite intent elements for a conspiracy conviction.

But this episode is far from over. Consider that –

  • The Bundy brothers and their father remain in custody as they are bound over for another federal trial about the 2014 Bunkerville stand-off in Nevada. Stung by the juror revolt in the Malheur case, federal prosecutors will likely redouble their efforts to win these convictions;
  • Ironically, eleven other Malheur occupiers have already pled guilty, some to a conspiracy of which the main plotters were acquitted. Another seven are slated to go to trial on these charges in January and
  • No other public lands rancher has followed the Bundy path of maximum resistance. Nor have other federal facilities been occupied.It as if the entire West was holding its collective breath, waiting for this verdict.

Going forward, the concern is that the Justice Department will retreat from prosecuting self-declared “militias” and let these events run their course. However, leading security experts warn that these perceived “victories” over the government only embolden the extremists and invite more confrontations. That would mean direct physical threats against federal workers charged with environmental protection would be left unchallenged.

These dismal prospects cut right to PEER’s core mission of. In response, we are gearing up to –

  • Field Legal SWAT Teams. As we did in the1990’s, PEER will retain personal injury attorneys to personally sue for assault and/or battery any person who wrongfully menaces or molests federal workers lawfully doing their jobs where the Justice Department has not acted forcefully to defend these public servants.
  • Press Justice. Federal security agencies had largely dismantled programs first established after the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing to counter domestic extremism. We will press the next administration and Attorney General to restore these programs and pursue these militias a public safety threat.
  • Throw Out a Life-Line. PEER is covering the backs of targeted resource employees and extending lifelines to field offices, forests, and refuges throughout the West. In November, we are conducting employee surveys of in 11 Western states. We are also providing employee hot-line access to confidentially report incidents.

This is a time to step up, not back. Show your public servants that you support them. [LINK]

Sincerely,

Jeff Ruch

Executive Director

P.S. Meanwhile, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge remains closed and nearly half of the staff has retired or transferred with none replaced. At the same time, increased security steps are draining resources away from an already deeply underfunded refuge system – more than half of refuges no longer have their own manager and more than a third have no permanent staff at all. PEER is pursuing the goal of re-opening these shadow refuges in the next administration.

P.P.S. It’s no Hallows Eve prank that in the waning months of the Obama tenure EPA is moving to dramatically hike allowable levels of radiation in drinking water following a nuclear release. PEER is leading the charge to block this dangerous, misguided lame duck move being pushed hard by the nuclear industry.

P.P.P.S. We are also moving aggressively to turn off the spigot of damaging, illegal subsidies to Western irrigators being handed out by a Bureau of Reclamation, an agencywhich appears to have gone rogue. We are readying more damning revelations about other Reclamation hijinks which are timed to explode as the next Interior Secretary and Reclamation Commissioner undergo Senate confirmation review.

P.P.P.P.S. [SOCIAL MEDIA PITCH]