Tim DeChristopher
Encyclopedia
Tim DeChristopher is an American climate activist and co-founder of the environmental group Peaceful Uprising. On December 19, 2008, he protested an oil and gas lease auction of 116 parcels of public land in Utah
's redrock country, conducted by the Bureau of Land Management
. DeChristopher decided to participate in the auction, signing a Bidder Registration Form and placing fake bids to obtain 14 parcels of land (totaling 22,500 acres) for $1.8 million. DeChristopher was removed from the auction by federal agents, taken into custody, and questioned. On July 26, 2011, Judge Dee Benson sentenced DeChristopher to two years in prison; his lawyers plan to appeal.
and grew up in Pittsburgh. He attended Arizona State University
, and later moved to Utah
in 2005 where he worked as a wilderness guide for troubled and at-risk youth. As a guide, DeChristopher emphasized self-reliance skills and respect for the natural world. His interaction with at-risk youth groups led him to reject what he viewed as a political and economic system that concentrates wealth in the hands of a privileged few while ostracizing vulnerable and impoverished citizens in the U.S. This conviction later inspired him to study economics at the University of Utah
, where he received a Bachelor's degree in 2009.
highlights the critical role that civil disobedience
has played in social movements throughout history, including the civil rights and women's suffrage movements. DeChristopher's acts of civil disobedience have been compared to those of Rosa Parks
by the media, but DeChristopher has said that his actions are more comparable to those of Alice Paul
, who escalated the women's rights movement by forcing the government to publicly arrest women protesting on the steps of the capitol and lending visibility to an obscured social movement.
DeChristopher has expressed the need for similar tactics to end mountaintop removal mining in his home state of West Virginia.
In November 2009, DeChristopher's defense team claimed a necessity
defense, which required proof that DeChristopher was faced with choosing between two evils and that his actions resulted in the lesser of the two to avoid imminent harm where no legal alternative was available. Federal prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Dee Benson
prohibited the defense, precluding DeChristopher from presenting evidence that might have supported his argument for necessity defense. DeChristopher and his attorneys were also forbidden to inform the jury that the lease auction was deemed unlawful, that DeChristopher had raised sufficient funds for an initial payment to the BLM (which the BLM refused to accept), or that DeChristopher's motives were grounded in moral convictions related to climate change.
DeChristopher's necessity defense claim was condemned by prosecutor John Huber, "It becomes clear that the defendant's hopes are to have a prominent venue for his global-warming show — a platform from which he could educate the masses.” Huber also asserted that DeChristopher overlooked legal methods of protest. In a court address, DeChristopher responded to Huber's assertion:
"The government has made the claim that there were legal alternatives to standing in the way of this auction. Particularly, I could have filed a written protest against certain parcels. The government does not mention, however, that two months prior to this auction, in October 2008, a Congressional report was released that looked into those protests. The report, by the House committee on public lands, stated that it had become common practice for the BLM to take volunteers from the oil and gas industry to process those permits. The oil industry was paying people specifically to volunteer for the industry that was supposed to be regulating it, and it was to those industry staff that I would have been appealing."
DeChristopher's defense claimed a selective prosecution
defense in March 2010. DeChristopher attorney Ron Yengich suspected "political machinations" behind DeChristopher's indictment. DeChristopher learned about his indictment from an Associated Press
reporter informed by an oil and gas lobbyist in Washington D.C. Yengich also requested information from federal prosecutors regarding previous cases where individuals and energy companies that reneged on bids for public land without prosecution. The request was denied by Judge Benson, citing “no support for further discovery.”
Benson adamantly asserted that DeChristopher's actions were largely unsuccessful and undeserving of comparisons to historical acts of civil disobedience
by figures such as Rosa Parks
and Henry David Thoreau
. However, DeChristopher's actions garnered national attention for an illegal government auction of public land
leases during the final days of the Bush administration. On January 17, 2009, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina
temporarily halted the sale of 77 parcels, citing BLM violations of environmental laws protecting air quality and historic preservation. In February 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
shelved 77 disputed lease parcels – some of which had been won by DeChristopher at auction — and criticized Bush administrators for conducting a “rush review” of the contested lands.
On the day of his sentencing, DeChristopher addressed Judge Benson and federal prosecutors with an official statement:
"I know Mr. Huber [Federal prosecutor] disagrees with me on this. He wrote that 'The rule of law is the bedrock of our civilized society, not acts of "civil disobedience" committed in the name of the cause of the day'. That’s an especially ironic statement when he is representing the United States of America, a place where the rule of law was created through acts of civil disobedience. Since those bedrock acts of civil disobedience by our founding fathers, the rule of law in this country has continued to grow closer to our shared higher moral code through the civil disobedience that drew attention to legalized injustice."
The U.S. Attorney's office issued a memorandum addressing DeChristopher's case that stated, "To be sure, a federal prison term here will deter others from entering a path of criminal behavior." DeChristopher responded to this statement during his court address:
"The certainty of this statement not only ignores the history of political prisoner
s, it ignores the severity of the present situation. Those who are inspired to follow my actions are those who understand that we are on a path toward catastrophic consequences of climate change. They know their future, and the future of their loved ones, is on the line. And they know we are running out of time to turn things around. The closer we get to that point where it's too late, the less people have to lose by fighting back. The power of the Justice Department
is based on its ability to take things away from people. The more that people feel that they have nothing to lose, the more that power begins to shrivel. The people who are committed to fighting for a livable future will not be discouraged or intimidated by anything that happens here today.
And neither will I. I will continue to confront the system that threatens our future. Given the destruction of our democratic institutions that once gave citizens access to power, my future will likely involve civil disobedience. Nothing that happens here today will change that. I don't mean that in any sort of disrespectful way at all, but you don't have that authority. You have authority over my life, but not my principles. Those are mine alone."
Judge Benson explained to the court and to DeChristopher that were it not for DeChristopher's "continuing trail of statements" post-auction, he [DeChristopher] might have avoided prosecution and prison time. Judge Benson stated, "The offense itself, with all apologies to people actually in the auction itself, wasn't that bad."
in California
, a facility which holds medium and minimum security prisoners. His Federal Bureau of Prisons
Register Number is 16156-081 and he is scheduled for release on April 21, 2013.
singer Alex Ebert
recorded a music video "Let's Win" showcasing popular support for DeChristopher and scenes from a Salt Lake City protest in March 2011.
Author Chris Guillebeau's book The Art of Non-Conformity supports DeChristopher's actions as "creative acts of protest" in times when "morality and law are on opposite sides."
Rolling Stone
magazine journalist Jeff Goodell
wrote an article on DeChristopher calling him "America's Most Creative Climate Criminal."
American author and environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams
published an op-ed piece in The Salt Lake Tribune
following DeChristopher's sentence.
DeChristopher was named an Utne Reader
visionary in 2011.
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
's redrock country, conducted by the Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
. DeChristopher decided to participate in the auction, signing a Bidder Registration Form and placing fake bids to obtain 14 parcels of land (totaling 22,500 acres) for $1.8 million. DeChristopher was removed from the auction by federal agents, taken into custody, and questioned. On July 26, 2011, Judge Dee Benson sentenced DeChristopher to two years in prison; his lawyers plan to appeal.
Early life
DeChristopher was born on November 18, 1981 in West VirginiaWest Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and grew up in Pittsburgh. He attended Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, and later moved to Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
in 2005 where he worked as a wilderness guide for troubled and at-risk youth. As a guide, DeChristopher emphasized self-reliance skills and respect for the natural world. His interaction with at-risk youth groups led him to reject what he viewed as a political and economic system that concentrates wealth in the hands of a privileged few while ostracizing vulnerable and impoverished citizens in the U.S. This conviction later inspired him to study economics at the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, where he received a Bachelor's degree in 2009.
Activism
As an avid reader, DeChristopher has a developed interest in the writers and philosophies that have shaped U.S. and global social movements. His perspective on the American environmental movementEnvironmental movement in the United States
In the United States today, the organized environmental movement is represented by a wide range of organizations sometimes called non-governmental organizations or NGOs. These organizations exist on local, national, and international scales...
highlights the critical role that civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
has played in social movements throughout history, including the civil rights and women's suffrage movements. DeChristopher's acts of civil disobedience have been compared to those of Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
by the media, but DeChristopher has said that his actions are more comparable to those of Alice Paul
Alice Paul
Alice Stokes Paul was an American suffragist and activist. Along with Lucy Burns and others, she led a successful campaign for women's suffrage that resulted in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.-Activism: Alice Paul received her undergraduate education from...
, who escalated the women's rights movement by forcing the government to publicly arrest women protesting on the steps of the capitol and lending visibility to an obscured social movement.
DeChristopher has expressed the need for similar tactics to end mountaintop removal mining in his home state of West Virginia.
Trial
DeChristopher was indicted on April 1, 2009 in a two-count felony indictment for violation of the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act and making false statements. DeChristopher pleaded “not guilty” on both charges, and faced up to 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.In November 2009, DeChristopher's defense team claimed a necessity
Necessity
In U.S. criminal law, necessity may be either a possible justification or an exculpation for breaking the law. Defendants seeking to rely on this defense argue that they should not be held liable for their actions as a crime because their conduct was necessary to prevent some greater harm and when...
defense, which required proof that DeChristopher was faced with choosing between two evils and that his actions resulted in the lesser of the two to avoid imminent harm where no legal alternative was available. Federal prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Dee Benson
Dee Benson
Dee Vance Benson is a Federal judge and former chief judge for the United States District Court for the District of Utah. He was briefly a professional soccer player. He was nominated as judge by President George H. W. Bush on May 16, 1991, and confirmed by the United States Senate on September...
prohibited the defense, precluding DeChristopher from presenting evidence that might have supported his argument for necessity defense. DeChristopher and his attorneys were also forbidden to inform the jury that the lease auction was deemed unlawful, that DeChristopher had raised sufficient funds for an initial payment to the BLM (which the BLM refused to accept), or that DeChristopher's motives were grounded in moral convictions related to climate change.
DeChristopher's necessity defense claim was condemned by prosecutor John Huber, "It becomes clear that the defendant's hopes are to have a prominent venue for his global-warming show — a platform from which he could educate the masses.” Huber also asserted that DeChristopher overlooked legal methods of protest. In a court address, DeChristopher responded to Huber's assertion:
"The government has made the claim that there were legal alternatives to standing in the way of this auction. Particularly, I could have filed a written protest against certain parcels. The government does not mention, however, that two months prior to this auction, in October 2008, a Congressional report was released that looked into those protests. The report, by the House committee on public lands, stated that it had become common practice for the BLM to take volunteers from the oil and gas industry to process those permits. The oil industry was paying people specifically to volunteer for the industry that was supposed to be regulating it, and it was to those industry staff that I would have been appealing."
DeChristopher's defense claimed a selective prosecution
Selective prosecution
In jurisprudence, selective prosecution is a procedural defense in which a defendant argues that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as the criminal justice system discriminated against them by choosing to prosecute...
defense in March 2010. DeChristopher attorney Ron Yengich suspected "political machinations" behind DeChristopher's indictment. DeChristopher learned about his indictment from an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reporter informed by an oil and gas lobbyist in Washington D.C. Yengich also requested information from federal prosecutors regarding previous cases where individuals and energy companies that reneged on bids for public land without prosecution. The request was denied by Judge Benson, citing “no support for further discovery.”
Benson adamantly asserted that DeChristopher's actions were largely unsuccessful and undeserving of comparisons to historical acts of civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
by figures such as Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
and Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
. However, DeChristopher's actions garnered national attention for an illegal government auction of public land
Public land
In all modern states, some land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land. The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries...
leases during the final days of the Bush administration. On January 17, 2009, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina
Ricardo M. Urbina
Ricardo M. Urbina is a United States District Court judge in Washington, DC. He has taken senior status.Urbina earned a B.A. from Georgetown University in 1967. He received his law degree from the Law Center at Georgetown University in 1970. He began his legal career as a public defender. He...
temporarily halted the sale of 77 parcels, citing BLM violations of environmental laws protecting air quality and historic preservation. In February 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar
Kenneth Lee "Ken" Salazar is the current United States Secretary of the Interior, in the administration of President Barack Obama. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martinez were the first Hispanic U.S...
shelved 77 disputed lease parcels – some of which had been won by DeChristopher at auction — and criticized Bush administrators for conducting a “rush review” of the contested lands.
Sentencing
On July 26, 2011, Judge Dee Benson sentenced DeChristopher to two years in prison, imposed a $10,000 fine, and ordered him into immediate custody. The court's decision resulted in popular protest in Salt Lake City and other U.S. cities. Salt Lake City police arrested 26 protesters, now referred to as the "Bidder 70 26" --also a reference to the coincidental date of his sentencing, 07/26. The term "Bidder 70" has become synonymous with Tim DeChristoper for the number on his bidder card during the lease auction, and became the title of the DeChristopher news and support website, Bidder70.org.On the day of his sentencing, DeChristopher addressed Judge Benson and federal prosecutors with an official statement:
"I know Mr. Huber [Federal prosecutor] disagrees with me on this. He wrote that 'The rule of law is the bedrock of our civilized society, not acts of "civil disobedience" committed in the name of the cause of the day'. That’s an especially ironic statement when he is representing the United States of America, a place where the rule of law was created through acts of civil disobedience. Since those bedrock acts of civil disobedience by our founding fathers, the rule of law in this country has continued to grow closer to our shared higher moral code through the civil disobedience that drew attention to legalized injustice."
The U.S. Attorney's office issued a memorandum addressing DeChristopher's case that stated, "To be sure, a federal prison term here will deter others from entering a path of criminal behavior." DeChristopher responded to this statement during his court address:
"The certainty of this statement not only ignores the history of political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s, it ignores the severity of the present situation. Those who are inspired to follow my actions are those who understand that we are on a path toward catastrophic consequences of climate change. They know their future, and the future of their loved ones, is on the line. And they know we are running out of time to turn things around. The closer we get to that point where it's too late, the less people have to lose by fighting back. The power of the Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
is based on its ability to take things away from people. The more that people feel that they have nothing to lose, the more that power begins to shrivel. The people who are committed to fighting for a livable future will not be discouraged or intimidated by anything that happens here today.
And neither will I. I will continue to confront the system that threatens our future. Given the destruction of our democratic institutions that once gave citizens access to power, my future will likely involve civil disobedience. Nothing that happens here today will change that. I don't mean that in any sort of disrespectful way at all, but you don't have that authority. You have authority over my life, but not my principles. Those are mine alone."
Judge Benson explained to the court and to DeChristopher that were it not for DeChristopher's "continuing trail of statements" post-auction, he [DeChristopher] might have avoided prosecution and prison time. Judge Benson stated, "The offense itself, with all apologies to people actually in the auction itself, wasn't that bad."
Appeal
On July 28, 2011 DeChristopher's defense attorney Pat Shea and his team filed documents notifying the court of their plans to appeal DeChristopher's sentence. DeChristopher was initially detained in the Davis County Correctional Facility in Farmington, Utah. He is currently serving his two-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, HerlongFederal Correctional Institution, Herlong
The Federal Correctional Institution Herlong is a medium security institution housing male inmates, with a satellite camp that houses minimum security male inmates in Herlong, California....
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, a facility which holds medium and minimum security prisoners. His Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
Register Number is 16156-081 and he is scheduled for release on April 21, 2013.
In popular culture
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic ZerosEdward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American band led by Alex Ebert, vocalist of the power pop group Ima Robot. Their first full-length recording, Up from Below, was released July 7, 2009, digitally and July 14, 2009, physically on Community Records...
singer Alex Ebert
Alex Ebert
Alex Ebert is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known for being the lead singer and songwriter for the American bands Ima Robot and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.-Early life:...
recorded a music video "Let's Win" showcasing popular support for DeChristopher and scenes from a Salt Lake City protest in March 2011.
Author Chris Guillebeau's book The Art of Non-Conformity supports DeChristopher's actions as "creative acts of protest" in times when "morality and law are on opposite sides."
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine journalist Jeff Goodell
Jeff Goodell
Jeff Goodell is an American author and contributing editor to Rolling Stone magazine. Goodell's recent writings focus on energy and environmental issues. In 2006 he published his most popular book to date Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future...
wrote an article on DeChristopher calling him "America's Most Creative Climate Criminal."
American author and environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams
Terry Tempest Williams
Terry Tempest Williams , is an American author, conservationist and activist.Williams’ writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah in which she was raised...
published an op-ed piece in The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune is the largest-circulated daily newspaper in the U.S. city of Salt Lake City. It is distributed by Newspaper Agency Corporation, which also distributes the Deseret News. The Tribune — or "Trib," as it is locally known — is currently owned by the Denver-based MediaNews Group....
following DeChristopher's sentence.
DeChristopher was named an Utne Reader
Utne Reader
Utne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...
visionary in 2011.