Looks like the judge pretty much threw the book at them
Five Just Stop Oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block M25
Five supporters of the Just Stop Oil climate campaign who conspired to cause gridlock on London’s orbital motorway have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms by a judge who told them they had “crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic”.
Roger Hallam, Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin were found guilty last week of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance for coordinating direct action protests on the M25 over four days in November 2022.
Hallam received a five-year sentence on Thursday, while the other four were each sentenced to four years.
The sentences are thought to be the longest sentences even given in the UK for non-violent protest, exceeding those given to the Just Stop Oil protesters Morgan Trowland (three years) and Marcus Decker (two years and seven months) for scaling the Dartford Crossing.
The actions may have been “non-violent” but they caused major disruptions, interfered with many other people, and broke numerous laws
(Judge) Hehir admitted there was a scientific and social consensus that human-made climate breakdown was happening and action should be taken to avert it. “I acknowledge that at least some of the concerns motivating you are, at least to some extent, shared by many,” he said.
“But the plain fact is that each of you has some time ago crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic. You have appointed yourselves as the sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change, bound neither by the principles of democracy nor the rule of law.
“And your fanaticism makes you entirely heedless of the rights of your fellow citizens. You have taken it upon yourselves to decide that your fellow citizens must suffer disruption and harm, and how much disruption and harm they must suffer, simply so that you may parade your views.”
Too bad the judge didn’t call them cult members. Regardless of whether anthropogenic climate change is real or not, that doesn’t give them the right to engage in a criminal conspiracy.
Finally, some “Climate Justice”.
Cases like this demonstrate the powerlessness of civil society to address crimes of non-violence. modern country legal systems have too few tools to address crime.
1. Restitution
2. Jail
3. Financial penalties
4. Community service
5. Home confinement.
What is missing is something that would be punishing for minor offenses so that people who have nothing can be coerced to be compliant and not face jail. This is the point of flogging or similar physical punishments. If you have see it done, you don’t want it to happen to you. If it has happened to you, you don’t want it to happen again.
In too many cases jail is counterproductive and is a punishment on the larger society. It removes useful people from the labor force and permanently places them into the company of criminals with no possibility to rejoin non-criminal society.
The people in stop oil and other similar activist groups would stop their silliness if they took a few lumps on the head. I fully support their activism for climate or anything else they choose as that is how they make a living. The beatings would only happen when they do things that are minor crimes in and of themselves.
The entire jail and prison system needs a ground up restructuring and redesign. To call it reform isn’t enough. There are too many prisons because there are not enough options for crimes other than prison. For the violent people, there is not enough death penalty. for the non-violent, there are not enough non-prison options.
Imprisoning the people who glues themselves to streets is not enough. Everyone in their organization and everyone who donates to them is a willing part of a criminal conspiracy and also needs to share the punishment.