News From the Community Rights Movement

Jan 11, 2022

Message from the NCRN

Dear friends, Tom Groover, an NCRN and COCRN Board member, along with his wife Karen recently lost everything in the Boulder County Colorado Marshall Fire that started on December 30, 2021. Tom has been on the Board of NCRN since its inception in 2014-2015. I initially spoke with Tom on Sunday January 2nd and then briefly… Read more »

Read More | Blogs

Jan 7, 2022

Donegal County Council votes unanimously to adopt Rights of Nature

In December, the Donegal County Council in Ireland voted unanimously to adopt the Rights of Nature as “an important statement of intention that imbeds the concept as a core value and a keystone concept.”

Read More | Blogs

Jan 5, 2022

Glen’s Parallax Perspectives – Interview with Kai Huschke

Glen Anderson interviewed two experts — Kai Huschke and Elliott Moffett — who have savvy insights and practical experience working to protect environments and establish legal rights for nature.

Lessons from Ecuador

What will it take to advance the Rights of Nature in the United States?

Read More | Blogs

Dec 15, 2021

Portrait of a water guardian – WT Interview with Tish O’Dell

What is the force that propels a woman forward in taking a courageous stand for water and the environment water creates?
Here is what Tish O’Dell told WATERTODAY Ohio.

Historic Rights of Nature Victory in Ecuador

The plaintiffs were able to introduce scientific studies that supported their claims that current government regulations would harm the forest ecosystem and sacred species.

Virginia Community Joins Global Rights of Nature Movement

Industrial gold mining has been shown to devastate local communities, including through the depletion of water tables and poisoning of water systems.

Local Democracy Denied: Informational Session

It has been a long road for Lincoln County in their search for protection from the practice of aerial spraying of pesticides by big timber.

Read More | Events

Dec 6, 2021

Restoring Mother Earth Law

Restoring our relationship to nature means restoring our human systems, including the legal system, to function just as healthy ecosystems do. Learn and discuss how we’ve gotten to this point, what is happening now to transform deep structures, and how traditional ways and the efforts to include justice into law for humans and non-humans is moving more and more into reality.

Read More | Events

Nov 28, 2021

2021 in Review

We are witnessing tremendous gains for the Rights of Nature movement and an expansion of awareness about the injustices perpetrated by highly centralized state government systems.

Read More | Blogs

Nov 25, 2021

Newsletter: Washington Update

The WACRN is now working to operationalize the network to be that change agent it set out to be nearly 10 years ago.

Read More | Blogs

Nov 24, 2021

PA Constitutional Change

House Bill 1716 is a proposed amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. It would secure the right of self-government to every community in Pennsylvania.

Read More | Blogs

Nov 23, 2021

Metallic Mining and Freedom from Toxic Trespass

The Virginia Community Rights Network has finalized text for an Ordinance Requiring an Assessment of the Compatibility of Metallic Mining with the Right to Freedom from Toxic Trespass.

Read More | Blogs

Nov 21, 2021

New Hampshire Municipal Outreach Campaign

As a means to gain feedback from local elected officials, the NHCRN launched a municipal outreach campaign this September.

Read More | Blogs

Nov 20, 2021

Challenges to Implementing Rights of Nature in the U.S

The intentional conflation of privileged property of this sort with personal property, the product of individual labor and creativity, perpetuates distrust of Rights of Nature.

Read More | Blogs

Nov 19, 2021

Sparking a National Conversation!

It is time to come together. Let’s have a conversation about our issues, our strategies, and how we can truly unite to enact change.

Newsletter: Oregon Update

Justice continues to be denied in Oregon. Community rights efforts in Lane and Lincoln counties have, quite wrongly, found themselves mired in the Oregon court system on issues that should’ve been considered and resolved by the people of their respective counties.

Read More | Blogs

Nov 18, 2021

Newsletter: Ohio Update

Ohio communities have worked hard over the past eight years, proposing charter amendments and ordinances recognizing local self-governance and rights of nature.

Read More | Blogs

Nov 16, 2021

Community Rights Lane County Issues Values Statement

Community Rights Lane County educates and mobilizes citizens about their rights to local community self-governance. They believe decisions affecting communities must be made by community residents – the people directly impacted by these decisions and laws that authorize harmful corporate activities.

Read More | Blogs

Nov 11, 2021

BOOK: One-Block Revolution

CELDF’s Kai Huschke was centrally involved in the first-in-the-nation Community Bill of Rights and Worker Bill of Rights. His chapter for the new book One-Block Revolution, details the community building behind the efforts.

Q&A with SUNDANCE, Executive Director of Cleveland A.I.M.

How do we unite to create a more just and sustainable vision for the future. What are the possible next steps?

COMMUNITY RIGHTS AT THE OREGON SUPREME COURT

Community Rights at the Oregon Supreme Court: Understanding the Impacts of Denying Direct Democracy

Read More | Chemical Trespass, Community Rights, Events

Nov 2, 2021

Shifting the Lens: Energy & Environment Series

Would recognizing Rights of Nature affect you, the community and possibly the planet? Instead of looking at nature as mere property and as resources, what if we shifted the lens and the law to recognizing nature as living and therefore entitled to rights to life, to flourish and thrive?

Legal Self Defense

Legal Self Defense understands that the U.S. Constitution guarantees neither fairness nor safety, but that de-escalation skills coupled with some targeted legal knowledge can improve your security during interactions with law enforcement.

Read More | Defunding Violence, Publications

Oct 26, 2021

International Meeting: Rights of Nature Experiences

Join Siembra Centro Sociojurídico para la Defensa Territorial and others at this roundtable event on Rights of Nature Experiences.

Read More | Events

Oct 11, 2021

Honor The Treaties in Your Community

The destruction, privatization and incorporation of settler municipalities on these landscapes and waterways has violated the treaties. It’s time for municipalities to actually recognize and become governed by their local treaties.

Read More | Blogs

Oct 11, 2021

Transnational Institute of Social Ecology 2021 Conference

Bookchin recognized that social ecology will advance the cause of social and environmental justice by activating communities on many fronts. Uniting parallel efforts can actualize social ecology’s goals.

BOOK FOREWORD: Empowering Municipal Sustainability

They say that knowledge is power, but it’s not true. Knowledge fuels our actions and our actions are power.

Read More | Community Rights, Democratic Rights, Rights of Nature

Oct 8, 2021

Book: The Politics of Rights of Nature

How Rights of Nature laws are transforming governance to address environmental crises through more ecologically sustainable approaches to development.

Read More | News, Publications, Rights of Nature

Oct 7, 2021

Columbus Free Press: Beware the Brine

Members of OHCRN have called on Ohio’s Attorney General, Dave Yost, to open an investigation into the violation of Ohio law and the criminal actions of state officials and industry who were and are well aware that this brine is highly radioactive, yet still approve and allow it to be spread in Ohio communities.

Read More | Chemical Trespass, In The News

Oct 4, 2021

A Tribute to Gail Mills

Gail Mills of Nottingham, NH, passed away this month, having paid forward a legacy of community activism that inspired local activists across the country.

NCRN hosts a conversation with CELDF lawyers

Join the NCRN in conversation with Karen Hoffman, Kira Kelly, Terry Lodge, and Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin

Read More | Events

Sep 27, 2021

Playing Demolition Derby with Our Democratic Rights

Please join us October 6th for a deep dive into 21st Century democracy with our presenters, Kai Huschke, Community Organizer and Terry Lodge, attorney for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.

Read More | Events

Sep 23, 2021

Corporation Asks Nottingham, N.H. For Legal Fees After Suing Over Climate Ordinance

The Freedom From Chemical Trespass Rights-Based Ordinance asserted residents’ rights to a healthy climate and banned corporate activities that would interfere with those rights, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 per day.

Sep 17, 2021

Newsletter: Ohio Update

Ohio communities over the past decade have worked hard to protect ecosystems and their communities from various harmful projects. They did the work of asserting democratic rights to alter and reform their government. They collected signatures, argued in court, battled in lopsided campaigns and even won a few only to have the courts overturn their… Read more »

Read More | Blogs, Chemical Trespass, Community Wires, News

Sep 15, 2021

Invisible Hand Film Showing and Conversation

Join us on September 29, at 6:30 pm CET, for a virtual screening of the award-winning film Invisible Hand, a documentary exploring the global Rights of Nature movement, followed by a conversation with key actors and organizers of the movement from both America and Europe. 48 hours before the event, you will receive a link and… Read more »

Read More | Events

Sep 15, 2021

Newsletter: New England Update

Residents are blowing the whistle on large-scale industrial solar arrays that require the cutting of old-growth forests in favor of destructive greenwashing.

Read More | Blogs, Community Wires, News

Sep 14, 2021

Newsletter: Pacific Northwest Updates

Invisible Hand, the rebirth of the WACRN, and updates from the West Coast.

Read More | Blogs, Community Wires, In The News, News

Sep 13, 2021

Newsletter: Building a Movement in Pennsylvania

Community Rights organizing began in Pennsylvania over two decades ago. Since then, dozens of local laws have been adopted that ban everything from factory farms, to the spreading of sewage sludge, to oil and gas fracking and pipelines.

Read More | Blogs, Community Wires, In The News, News

Sep 13, 2021

Corporation Demands $40,281.50 From Town For Passing Climate Ordinance

As climate change brings suffering across the globe, in New Hampshire Judge Martin Honigberg has sided with a local corporate actor who seeks financial retribution against the Town of Nottingham for the popular adoption of an ordinance recognizing a right of townspeople to a “climate system capable of sustaining human societies.” On September 1, 2021 the sole corporate actor, Brent Tweed, of G&F Goods, LLC submitted a $40,281.50 bill to the court for attorney fees.

Read More | Community Rights, In The News, News, Press Releases

Sep 10, 2021

Newsletter: Asheville Climate Bill of Rights Begins Signature Gathering

A new ordinance seeks to place a Climate Bill of Rights on the 2022 ballot, which explicitly challenges North Carolina’s infamous state preemption scheme and privileges afforded private corporations.

Sep 9, 2021

Newsletter: Non-Linear Change

As we organize to make change while environmental and racial injustice run rampant, and as drought and a poisonous status quo threaten the conditions for life, identifying where to invest time and energy can be as complex as getting to know another human being. Nothing about forming relationships follows a straight line.

Read More | Blogs, Democratic Rights, News

Sep 8, 2021

Newsletter: Updates on Defunding Violence

The Defunding Violence Ordinance has been circulating in activist communities across the country. It continues to be a living document that both informs and is informed by grassroots efforts to defund and depower the institution of policing.

Read More | Blogs, Community Wires, Defunding Violence, News

Aug 29, 2021

Preemption Workshop

On Thursday, September 9 at 6:30 pm, please join us for a workshop by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) “Preemption as a Lethal Weapon: How Corporations and Government are Deliberately Destroying Communities and Nature”.

Conversation: United Church of Christ Becomes First Mainline Church Body to Declare Earth has Rights

The General Synod of the United Church of Christ has become the first mainline Protestant body to publicly proclaim that nature has rights.

Aug 17, 2021

Just Compensation

The courts of the empire may rely on self-referential legalisms to declare that the original indigenous inhabitants never had legal claim to ownership of the land, or that the U.S. Constitution did not, at the time, recognize enslaved people as capable of owning anything, including their own lives and labor; hence nothing recognized as legal property was taken from them and no compensation is owed. Typical judicial gaslighting.

International Agent Orange Day: Aug. 10

Efforts by both female protagonists in ‘The People vs. Agent Orange’ film have been suppressed since the award winning documentary was released.

Read More | Chemical Trespass, News, Press Releases

Aug 5, 2021

Abolitionist Legal Self Defense Webinar

Join us for a conversation to share legal self-defense best practices and to critique the role of police in stabilizing an oppressive status quo.

Rights of Nature Principles

CELDF has been involved in establishing legal Rights for Nature in Western law for over two decades, from the beginning of this movement’s contemporary phase. We recognize that institutionalizing the Rights of Nature requires a cultural paradigm shift that challenges and changes our legal, social, and moral behavior. For life on Earth to survive, and… Read more »

Read More | Issues, Resource Links, Rights of Nature

Jul 30, 2021

Columbus Free Press: Stifling Democracy?

One citizen-led initiative makes it on November’s ballot but the other is denied By Free Press Staff The citizen-led ProEnergy Ohio ballot initiative is likely making Columbus City Council, the Mayor’s Office and the Columbus Partnership take serious pause. Many believed the initiative was doomed, yet it made it on November’s ballot. Unfortunately, another environmental… Read more »

Los Cedros Ecuador Decision (En Español)

Susquehanna, Vol. 24, Issue 3

Lessons from Ecuador

Message from the NCRN

Donegal County Council votes unanimously to adopt Rights of Nature

Glen’s Parallax Perspectives – Interview with Kai Huschke

Lessons from Ecuador

Portrait of a water guardian – WT Interview with Tish O’Dell

Historic Rights of Nature Victory in Ecuador

Virginia Community Joins Global Rights of Nature Movement

Local Democracy Denied: Informational Session

Restoring Mother Earth Law

2021 in Review

Newsletter: Washington Update

PA Constitutional Change

Metallic Mining and Freedom from Toxic Trespass

New Hampshire Municipal Outreach Campaign

Challenges to Implementing Rights of Nature in the U.S

Sparking a National Conversation!

Newsletter: Oregon Update

Newsletter: Ohio Update

Community Rights Lane County Issues Values Statement

BOOK: One-Block Revolution

Q&A with SUNDANCE, Executive Director of Cleveland A.I.M.

COMMUNITY RIGHTS AT THE OREGON SUPREME COURT

Shifting the Lens: Energy & Environment Series

Legal Self Defense

International Meeting: Rights of Nature Experiences

Honor The Treaties in Your Community

Transnational Institute of Social Ecology 2021 Conference

BOOK FOREWORD: Empowering Municipal Sustainability

Book: The Politics of Rights of Nature

Columbus Free Press: Beware the Brine

A Tribute to Gail Mills

NCRN hosts a conversation with CELDF lawyers

Playing Demolition Derby with Our Democratic Rights

Corporation Asks Nottingham, N.H. For Legal Fees After Suing Over Climate Ordinance

Newsletter: Ohio Update

Invisible Hand Film Showing and Conversation

Newsletter: New England Update

Newsletter: Pacific Northwest Updates

Newsletter: Building a Movement in Pennsylvania

Corporation Demands $40,281.50 From Town For Passing Climate Ordinance

Newsletter: Asheville Climate Bill of Rights Begins Signature Gathering

Newsletter: Non-Linear Change

Newsletter: Updates on Defunding Violence

Preemption Workshop

Conversation: United Church of Christ Becomes First Mainline Church Body to Declare Earth has Rights

Just Compensation

International Agent Orange Day: Aug. 10

Abolitionist Legal Self Defense Webinar

Rights of Nature Principles

Columbus Free Press: Stifling Democracy?

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