A crime justified by climate change? Activists caught in legal showdown
by Julia Carrie Wong in Lynnwood, Wash. from on (#10NCG)
'Delta Five' blocked oil train in Washington but say their actions were moral as judge gives them a 'Hail Mary pass' to argue a 'necessity defense'
A jury in Washington state is hearing evidence on whether the threat of climate change is a justifiable defense for criminal acts, the first time such a defense has been allowed in an American court.
On Thursday, in a tiny municipal courtroom amid the strip malls and ranch houses of this suburban community north of Seattle, defense attorneys for five climate activists will call the final witnesses in their "Hail Mary pass" that has set up a historic legal showdown.
