Links
Environmentalist is spared jail for protest at Capitol
An environmental activist who was arrested while protesting in the Hart Senate Office Building last September avoided a three-year jail term Tuesday when a Washington judge handed down fines and probation instead.
Ted Glick, the policy director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network, had feared jail time Tuesday morning but said civil disobedience answered to a "higher law." He was found guilty in May on charges of displaying a banner in a federal building and disorderly conduct.
"I'm not a criminal. This was not a criminal act; it was a technical violation act," Glick said before his noon sentencing hearing. "And it was a needed act because our federal government has to take the lead in pursuing clean energy."
Superior Court Judge Frederick Weisberg gave Glick, who's 60, a suspended sentence but warned him that he'd head to jail for 30 days if he's arrested again. In addition to the $500 fine per violation, Glick was sentenced to a year's probation and was ordered to complete 40 hours of community service in Washington. Weisberg suggested the Anacostia Watershed Society but gave Glick the freedom to choose his project, as long as it didn't center on global warming.