State defends South Dakota pipeline protest legislation [View all]
Source: Associated Press
State defends South Dakota pipeline protest legislation
Blake Nicholson, Associated Press Updated 11:12 am CDT, Friday, April 19, 2019
South Dakota's governor and attorney general are asking a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit challenging a new law that aims to prevent disruptive demonstrations against the Keystone XL pipeline if it's built.
The law allows officials to pursue criminal or civil penalties from demonstrators who engage in "riot boosting," which is defined in part as encouraging violence during a riot. The American Civil Liberties Union and American Indian tribes say the law will stifle free speech, but the state disputes that argument.
"Defendants deny that any objectively reasonable fear of prosecution for protected speech would arise under (the law)," Deputy Attorney General Richard Williams said in a Tuesday filing.
. . .
American Indian tribes and environmental groups have promised similar protests against Keystone XL, which TransCanada Corp. wants to build to move Canadian crude through Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska, where it would connect with lines carrying oil to Gulf Coast refineries. The $8 billion project is tied up in the courts, as president Donald Trump tries to push it through but environmental groups resist.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/State-defends-South-Dakota-pipeline-protest-13780474.php
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