Press Releases & Blogs

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Oct 3, 2018

Press Release: “Right to Survive” Ballot Measure Petitions Submitted in Denver

Press Release: “Right to Survive” Ballot Measure Petitions Submitted in Denver

Denver, CO, residents advance “Right to Survive” bill of rights for homeless people, turning in petitions for the May 2019 ballot.

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Sep 24, 2018

Press Release: Ohio Supreme Court Ignores Rights, Blocks Citizen Initiative Protecting Lake Erie

Press Release: Ohio Supreme Court Ignores Rights, Blocks Citizen Initiative Protecting Lake Erie

While Ohio Supreme Court justices ignore democratic and environmental rights, Toledo residents continue to fight for them, and for the rights of Lake Erie.

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Sep 21, 2018

Blog: A Decade of Legality: Rights of Nature Coming of Age

Blog: A Decade of Legality: Rights of Nature Coming of Age

CELDF assisted Ecuador’s Constitutional Assembly to draft Rights of Nature provisions for their Constitution. The Ecuadorian people adopted the Constitution overwhelmingly by popular vote. Now, we celebrate the 10 year anniversary, and the growing Rights of Nature movement.

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Aug 16, 2018

Press Release: Rights of the Great Barrier Reef, Campaign Launch

Press Release: Rights of the Great Barrier Reef, Campaign Launch

Human activity is devastating the Great Barrier Reef. The Australia Earth Laws Alliance works with CELDF to secure rights for the Reef, protecting it from climate change, pollution, and other threats.

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Aug 13, 2018

Blog: Ceiling Preemption is UnAmerican

Blog: Ceiling Preemption is UnAmerican

Preemption is used by governments to stop communities from protecting their rights, health, safety, and welfare. It’s time to change that – and we can.

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Aug 6, 2018

Press Release: Columbus, OH, City Council Votes to Advance Fossil Fuel Extraction Ban to Ballot

Press Release: Columbus, OH, City Council Votes to Advance Fossil Fuel Extraction Ban to Ballot

Facing radioactive fracking waste, Columbus, OH, residents qualify a Community Bill of Rights initiative banning fracking activities from within the City. The measure protects rights to clean air, water, and soil.

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Jul 10, 2018

Press Release: Pennsylvania Township Bans Corporate Industrial Farming

Press Release: Pennsylvania Township Bans Corporate Industrial Farming

Todd Township, PA, adopts a Community Rights law prohibiting industrial factory farming to protect their community and preserve local farming operations.

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Jul 6, 2018

Press Release: India Court Declares Legal Rights of “Entire Animal Kingdom”

Press Release: India Court Declares Legal Rights of “Entire Animal Kingdom”

Northern India Court issues ruling in growing Rights of Nature movement: “Every species has an inherent right to live and are required to be protected by law.”

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Jun 29, 2018

Blog: America Denies “Personhood” to the Poor

Blog: America Denies “Personhood” to the Poor

The more property you own, the more rights you are accorded. If you’re homeless, propertyless, imprisoned, or undocumented, your rights are almost nil. That’s not what our revolutionary ancestors intended. It’s time to do something about it.

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May 24, 2018

Press Release: Ohio Attorney & Community Rights Advocate Receives the 2018 Johnsrud Unsung Heroes Award

Press Release: Ohio Attorney & Community Rights Advocate Receives the 2018 Johnsrud Unsung Heroes Award

Environmental and social justice attorney Terry Lodge receives the 2018 Johnsrud Unsung Heroes Award. Lodge partners with CELDF to advance and protect Community Rights for communities across Ohio.

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May 21, 2018

Press Release: PGE Continues Efforts to Bankrupt Grant Township

Press Release: PGE Continues Efforts to Bankrupt Grant Township

PGE continues to harass Grant Township, a small community in rural Pennsylvania, by attempting to force the Township to pay attorney’s fees. Grant residents are protecting their water by fighting PGE’s proposed fracking wastewater injection well.

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May 16, 2018

Blog: Dangerous to the 1% – An Informed Public

Blog: Dangerous to the 1% – An Informed Public

An uninformed, passive public is easy to for the 1% to lead. We must become knowledgeable – not just about what is happening, but how and why. We must take on difficult questions and challenge the status quo if we are going to create a new way of life.

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May 9, 2018

Press Release: The Right to Water Shut Off in Unjust Youngstown Election

Press Release: The Right to Water Shut Off in Unjust Youngstown Election

It was a questionable election at best for Youngstown, OH, where community members are fighting for their right to clean water in a city that is making it increasingly difficult to even vote on citizen initiatives.

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Apr 14, 2018

Blog: The Gun Establishment’s Weapon of Choice

Blog: The Gun Establishment’s Weapon of Choice

Courageous local officials in ten Florida cities are fighting punishments enacted by the state legislature under an unjust gun law. But it’s the state’s claimed power of preemption that must be challenged.

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Apr 5, 2018

Press Release: Colombia Supreme Court Rules that Amazon Region is “Subject of Rights”

Press Release: Colombia Supreme Court Rules that Amazon Region is “Subject of Rights”

In the growing recognition of ecosystem rights around the world, today the Colombia Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the Amazon region in Colombia possesses rights.

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Mar 27, 2018

Dick McGinn – A Life of Service

Dick McGinn – A Life of Service

CELDF, OHCRN, and Ohio communities grieve the loss of Dick McGinn, and celebrate his life and contributions. He was a passionate leader in growing Community Rights in Ohio.

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Mar 19, 2018

Press Release: Mahoning Board of Elections Defies Supreme Court

Press Release: Mahoning Board of Elections Defies Supreme Court

The Mahoning County, OH, Board of Elections blocks a duly qualified Community Bill of Rights initiative from the ballot in Youngstown. CELDF assists residents to file a lawsuit with the Ohio Supreme Court.

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Mar 16, 2018

Press Release: Historic Vote on Community Rights State Constitutional Amendment in NH Legislature

Press Release: Historic Vote on Community Rights State Constitutional Amendment in NH Legislature

The New Hampshire legislature takes an historic vote on the first Community Rights state constitutional amendment considered by a state legislature.

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Mar 14, 2018

Blog: The NRA, Gun Violence, and Ceiling Preemption

Blog: The NRA, Gun Violence, and Ceiling Preemption

Communities can’t adopt the gun laws they believe would best protect their health, safety, and welfare. Here’s why – and what communities can do about it.

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Feb 28, 2018

Press Release: International Lifetime Achievement Award Presented to Oregon Community Rights, Rights of Nature Advocate

Press Release: International Lifetime Achievement Award Presented to Oregon Community Rights, Rights of Nature Advocate

Community Rights supporter Carol Van Strum receives the International Lifetime Achievement Award Presented at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, OR.

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Feb 25, 2018

Blog: Black History Month, White Supremacy, and Community Rights

Blog: Black History Month, White Supremacy, and Community Rights

CELDF’s Tish O’Dell shares discoveries of her own white privilege when fracking came into her community – and how Dr. Martin Luther King and Black Lives Matter inform her work with communities today

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Feb 19, 2018

Press Release: New Hampshire Community Rights Amendment Backed by Legislative Subcommittee

Press Release: New Hampshire Community Rights Amendment Backed by Legislative Subcommittee

The people’s Community Rights state constitutional amendment moves ahead with the support of a New Hampshire legislative subcommittee.

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Feb 5, 2018

Blog: Think Globally, Enact Locally

Blog: Think Globally, Enact Locally

“Local control” today means seizing our local governments and enacting laws to protect our communities and the future of the planet.

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Feb 1, 2018

Press Release: Plymouth, NH, Voters Adopt Community Rights Sustainable Energy Future Ordinance

Press Release: Plymouth, NH, Voters Adopt Community Rights Sustainable Energy Future Ordinance

Plymouth, NH, voters overwhelmingly adopt a rights-based ordinance banning unsustainable energy projects and protecting their right to a sustainable energy future. The measure bans the Northern Pass project.

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Jan 29, 2018

Blog: One Final New Year’s Resolution for 2018

Blog: One Final New Year’s Resolution for 2018

Let’s stop lying to each other and stop protesting. Let’s start truth-telling and begin building our communities based on rights. It’s time.

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Jan 23, 2018

Press Release: New Hampshire Community Rights Amendment Advances to Public Committee Hearing

Press Release: New Hampshire Community Rights Amendment Advances to Public Committee Hearing

New Hampshire residents and the NHCRN advance a Community Rights state constitutional amendment to the legislative committee hearing.

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Jan 21, 2018

Blog: When we fight, we win

Blog: When we fight, we win

Why are attacks from the corporate state escalating against communities who are advancing basic rights and protecting themselves from harm? And what’s next?

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Jan 15, 2018

Blog: Having a Dream is Just the Beginning

Blog: Having a Dream is Just the Beginning

Dr. Martin Luther King is remembered for his extraordinary leadership in advancing Civil Rights. Let us not forget, either, how the system he and his followers sought to change, punished them for doing so.

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Jan 5, 2018

Press Release: Federal Court Sanctions Lawyers for Defending Community’s Right to Say “No” to Frack Wastewater Injection Wells

Press Release: Federal Court Sanctions Lawyers for Defending Community’s Right to Say “No” to Frack Wastewater Injection Wells

The corporate state’s judiciary punishes attorneys defending Grant Township, PA, residents against the oil and gas industry by imposing sanctions.

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Jan 5, 2018

Blog: Seceding from Ourselves

Blog: Seceding from Ourselves

Abolitionists urged secession to end the slave state. Explore secession to end the corporate state.

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Dec 20, 2017

Press Release: First Rights of Nature Easement Established in Hawaii

Press Release: First Rights of Nature Easement Established in Hawaii

As part of the growing Rights of Nature movement, the first conservation easement in Hawaii recognizing the Rights of Nature now protects 8 acres of land on the island of Kaua’i.

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Dec 7, 2017

Blog: Downsizing Nature: The Fight for Bears Ears and Beyond

Blog: Downsizing Nature: The Fight for Bears Ears and Beyond

Nature isn’t protected in our constitution. And so ecosystems, including our national monuments, are protected – or not – at the whim of current powerbrokers.

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Nov 20, 2017

Blog: A New Hampshire Resident & Legislator Exchange Words on Community Rights

Blog: A New Hampshire Resident & Legislator Exchange Words on Community Rights

A powerful exchange between a New Hampshire legislator and a New Hampshire resident on Community Rights.

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Nov 17, 2017

Press Release: Ohio Residents Fight for Rights: Submit State Constitutional Amendments to Guarantee Right to Local Self-Government

Press Release: Ohio Residents Fight for Rights: Submit State Constitutional Amendments to Guarantee Right to Local Self-Government

Today, residents take action to protect democratic and environmental rights in Ohio, submitting two state constitutional amendments to the Ohio Attorney General.

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Nov 14, 2017

Press Release: As Part of Growing Community Rights Movement, New Hampshire Legislators Consider State Constitutional Amendment

Press Release: As Part of Growing Community Rights Movement, New Hampshire Legislators Consider State Constitutional Amendment

The NH Community Rights Network and residents successfully introduce a rights-based state constitutional amendment to the NH legislature with Representative Ellen Read as a sponsor.

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Nov 13, 2017

Press Release: Coos Bay Estuary Speaks Out Against FERC

Press Release: Coos Bay Estuary Speaks Out Against FERC

Coos Bay Estuary on the coast of Oregon files to intervene in FERC proceedings. Coos Bay is threatened by a massive LNG export terminal and a pipeline.

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Nov 9, 2017

Blog: Capitalism: The Elephant in the Room

Blog: Capitalism: The Elephant in the Room

Through seizing municipal government, communities are building a bulwark of rights for human and natural communities, working to liberate our communities from capitalism.

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Nov 7, 2017

Press Release: Youngstown Residents Circulating Petitions for Water Protection Law

Press Release: Youngstown Residents Circulating Petitions for Water Protection Law

Youngstown, OH, residents make their comeback, gathering signatures on election day for their Community Rights charter amendment protecting their water.

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Oct 19, 2017

Press Release: Bowling Green Residents Tip OH Supreme Court in their Favor, Win Fight for Right to Vote

Press Release: Bowling Green Residents Tip OH Supreme Court in their Favor, Win Fight for Right to Vote

Bowling Green residents declare victory! Their right to vote affirmed in Ohio Supreme Court as the first-in-the-state Right to Climate initiative goes on the November ballot.

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Oct 17, 2017

Blog: Pebble Mine: Risen from the Dead

Blog: Pebble Mine: Risen from the Dead

Pebble Mine is moving forward in Alaska. We need a revolution if we have any hope to protect the ecosystems we depend upon.

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Oct 10, 2017

Blog: Taking a Knee on the First Amendment

Blog: Taking a Knee on the First Amendment

If we take a knee to protest racism in our capacity as employees, our rights under the first amendment are not protected.

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Oct 6, 2017

Press Release: Split Decision in Ohio Supreme Court for Youngstown Ballot Initiatives

Press Release: Split Decision in Ohio Supreme Court for Youngstown Ballot Initiatives

In a 4-3 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court denies Youngstown residents the right to vote. Residents vow they are not surrendering their rights.

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Oct 2, 2017

Press Release: Judge Strikes Portions of Democratically-Enacted Charter Banning Frack Waste

Press Release: Judge Strikes Portions of Democratically-Enacted Charter Banning Frack Waste

Highland Township, PA, residents plan enforcement of their Home Rule Charter banning a frack wastewater injection well as judiciary sides with Seneca Resources Corporation.

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Sep 21, 2017

Press Release: People’s Constitutional Right to Form Charter Government Stricken by Ohio Supreme Court

Press Release: People’s Constitutional Right to Form Charter Government Stricken by Ohio Supreme Court

The Ohio Supreme Court places insurmountable requirements on county charter initiatives. For three years, counties have attempted to protect themselves from fracking through advancing rights-based charter initiatives.

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Sep 7, 2017

Press Release: Bowling Green Residents Have More Right to Initiative than Youngstown Residents?

Press Release: Bowling Green Residents Have More Right to Initiative than Youngstown Residents?

The Board of Elections denies Youngstown, OH, residents their inalienable right to vote on their own citizen initiatives. Residents are challenging the stripping of their rights.

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Aug 22, 2017

Press Release: Ohio Residents Take Fight for Right to Vote to Ohio Supreme Court

Press Release: Ohio Residents Take Fight for Right to Vote to Ohio Supreme Court

Boards of Elections use new found authority to block citizen initiatives off the ballot in Athens and Medina Counties in Ohio. CELDF is assisting residents to fight back, taking it to the Ohio Supreme Court.

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Aug 7, 2017

Press Release: Citizen Initiative Removes Corporations from Election Campaigns, Caps Campaign Contributions

Press Release: Citizen Initiative Removes Corporations from Election Campaigns, Caps Campaign Contributions

Youngstown, OH, residents submit petitions to place a fair elections initiative on the November ballot. The measure includes removing corporations from campaigns.

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Aug 7, 2017

Blog: Ceiling Preemption: A Weapon Against Democracy

Blog: Ceiling Preemption: A Weapon Against Democracy

State and federal governments use ceiling preemption to suppress rights. It’s time for communities to use floor preemption to stop harm and expand rights.

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