Tim DeChristopher's Speech After Verdict in Historic Case is Reached

As Bidder 70, Tim DeChristopher exposed the sham of what passes as "legal" in the sell-off and destruction of America's precious public lands and environment.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine public lands in Utah were hurriedly opened up for business in Bush’s last days in power—with none of the required reviews of the environmental consequences. Tim showed that the leasing process was a sham, the auction process was a sham, and the pricing process was a sham.

With this verdict, Tim’s case shows that the justice system is a sham. He was prosecuted for—and found guilty of—the nonviolent crime of disrupting a federal auction of oil and gas leases on lands near Utah’s Arches and Canyonlands national parks. One that was later found to be illegitimate and rescinded.

Where are the prosecutions of the corrupt officials in the oilogarchy who illegally granted the leases in the first place (not to mention all the other lawbreakers in our society who happen to be politically powerful: the Wall Street criminals who wrecked the world’s economy, the BP/Halliburton/Transocean despoilers of the Gulf of Mexico, the approvers of war and torture, and on and on and on)?

Justice for all. It’s a quaint notion, isn’t it?

By Carolyn Shea