The ‘Weed 9’ Win, Logging Company Drops SLAPP Lawsuit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bruce Shoemaker, Media Liaison
Water for Citizens of Weed, California (WCWC)
(612) 770-9697
bshoe@bitstream.net
Valentina Stackl, Media Liaison
Protect the Protest Task Force
(734) 276-6260
vstackl@greenpeace.org
WEED, CALIFORNIA - In a victory for free speech,Roseburg Forest Products agreed to drop its bullying lawsuit against Water forCitizens of Weed, California (WCWC) and nine members of the Weed community whochallenged the company’s efforts to control a local water source.
For several years, Roseburg pursued anaggressive campaign to deprive the City of Weed of its main water source, aspring originating on nearby Mount Shasta. The spring has provided thecommunity with clean water for its entire 110-year existence. Roseburg plannedto take away this water from the community and sell it to a private waterbottling company which would then sell it abroad.
After Weed residents spoke out against the plan,Roseburg retaliated. The company sued nine residents (known as “the Weed 9”),including three former mayors of the city, one of whom is 93-years-old.Roseburg also sued the City of Weed, running up legal costs of close to$600,000 for the small town.
A court dismissed Roseburg’s lawsuit againstWCWC and nine citizens in December 2017 under California’s anti-SLAPPlaw. In a settlement finalized this week, Roseburg, after two years of appealsand delaying tactics, finally agreed to fully reimburse the defendants forrecoverable legal fees and costs and to drop its appeal of the court’s decision.
SLAPP lawsuits - or Strategic Lawsuits AgainstPublic Participation - are a bullying tactic used by corporations and otherentities to silence free speech, in which the corporation brings a case for thepurpose of dragging its critics through expensive, time-consuming, andpsychologically burdensome litigation.
While Roseburg failed in its SLAPP against localcitizens, its bullying tactics against the City of Weed were more successful.In August, facing mounting legal costs, the City Council agreed to cede thedisputed water rights to Roseburg. The City Council has now voted to initiateeminent domain proceedings to regain ownership of the water. Whereas theeminent domain process may secure the contested water rights for the City, itwill be at considerable expense to the public, and yield an unwarrantedhandsome profit for Roseburg.
The First Amendment Project, a nonprofit lawfirm based in Oakland, California and a member of the Protect the Protest TaskForce and Gary Bostwick, a private lawyer, represented WCWC and the Weedcommunity members in the case pro bono.
STATEMENTS
Jim Taylor, President of WCWC, said, “Roseburg and its law firm ChurchwellWhite manipulated the court system in an attempt to bully and intimidatecitizens merely for exercising their right to speak out. This case alsorepresents a failure of government to protect the public trust over privateprofits. Weed citizens may be absolved from this injustice, but the City ofWeed must still confront the take-over of its primary water source.”
James Wheaton, Senior Counsel for the FirstAmendment Project, said “Thislawsuit against citizens of Weed should never have happened in the first place.No one should be sued merely for speaking out on an issue of public concern.Roseburg could have ended this more than two years ago, instead of dragging outthis lawsuit and disrupting the lives of these innocent activists."
Alison Friedman, Executive Director of theInternational Corporate Accountability Roundtable and Coordinator for theProtect the Protest Task Force,said, “While the reimbursements and end to the bullying lawsuit is a surevictory, nothing can fully compensate the WCWC and the Weed 9 for all that theyendured throughout this process. Protect the Protest is committed to continuingto tell the story of these community members who stood up and spoke out forwhat they believed in and didn’t back down in the face of a meritless lawsuitby a corporate bully. We want everyone to know that when you speak out, Protectthe Protest has your back.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To learn about the Weed community’s struggle toprotect their clean drinking water, please visit https://waterforweedca.org.
To learn how SLAPPs pose a threat to free speech, and what you can do about it, visit https://www.protecttheprotest.org.
Read Jim Taylor's story, President of Water for Citizens of Weed, who alongside others was SLAPPed for defending his water source: https://www.protecttheprotest.org/story/jim-taylor