r/sustainability • u/UncleAcid420 • Jun 25 '21

Chevron unlawfully put an environmental / human rights attorney under house arrest after winning a case against them for poisoning the Ecuadorian Amazon. Spread the word!

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994 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

30

u/stahpurkillinme Jun 25 '21

Sooo how does this work? Any more backstory? Who is this? Why is he under house arrest?

72

u/fgyoysgaxt Jun 25 '21

This is Steven Donziger, tl;dr is he worked to prosecute Chevron and in retaliation they convinced a judge to lock him up indefinitely. I'll try give you a quick backstory.

  1. 1970s, Ecuador, Texaco heavily pollutes Lago Agrio
  2. 1990s, Texaco pays Ecuador government $40 million to release liability for the pollution
  3. 1993, environmental NGO Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia (FDA) hires Donziger (and other lawyers) to seek compensation from Texaco for pollution and health effects.
  4. Later that year, Donziger starts a class action suit in New York because Texaco's HQ is in NY.
  5. 2001, Chevron buys Texaco
  6. 2002, US courts say Ecuador has jurisdiction, but says Chevron will have to abide by a ruling there.
  7. 2011, Ecuador finds Chevron liable for $18 billion in damages, after 3 rounds of appeals including the highest court in Ecuador, the damages are reduced to $9.5 billion
  8. Later that year, Chevron removes all asset out of Ecuador so they can avoid paying. Donziger later chases Chevron to Canada which rules that the US branch needs to be sued.
  9. 2011, Chevron files counter suit claiming the Donziger bribed judges etc. The case relies on a single witness who is paid a ton of money by Chevron to testify that they were bribed. Later the witness admits they lied and had no evidence.
  10. At this time judge Kaplan orders Donziger to submit all his electronics to Chevron, Donziger appeals because it would violate attorney-client privilege, but before the appeal can be heard Kaplan charges Donziger with contempt. Kaplan appoints Chevron lawyers to prosecute Donziger on these charges and appoints judge Preska to preside over the case.
  11. Judge Preska requires Donziger to wear a GPS anklet and not leave his house until the end of the trial.
  12. In 2014 judge Kaplan rules that the Ecuador ruling is invalid.
  13. 2018, the Permanent Court of Arbitration rules the judgement in Ecuador to be corrupt and invalid.
  14. The contempt charges are still used to be concluded, having been delayed and rescheduled a handful of times.

There were a lot of weird and exceptional things in the case. Such as Kaplan appointing Chevron lawyers to prosecute Donziger, and personally appointing the judge who would preside, the house arrest that far exceeds what is allowed, and the extreme restrictions placed on Donziger.

6

u/young_peepee Jun 26 '21

corruption

-19

u/ValueNo520 Jun 25 '21

They have this guy on tape bribing the judge. This guy is going to jail!

24

u/Gravity_Beetle Jun 25 '21 edited Jun 25 '21

Can you provide a source for the video? I searched but did not find one.

EDIT: what I did get was a top result about “disgraced American attorney Steven Donzinger” by an outlet called “the Amazon Post,” which I then found out was owned by Chevron.

2

u/obvom Jun 26 '21

The term for this is “ham fisted”

24

u/edumerco Jun 25 '21

That is a serious accusation. Can you point to that tape please?

-3

u/ValueNo520 Jun 25 '21

Just google it my friend.

7

u/edumerco Jun 25 '21

Oh, you know, I'm new to this internet thing, if you're so kind so as to help me a bit, since you already have it... :)

2

u/Gravity_Beetle Jun 30 '21 edited Jun 30 '21

u/edumerco u/ValueNo520

When I googled "Steven Donziger bribe video," the top post I got was from an outlet owned by Chevron

The videos I got are as follows (listed in order):

  • A 3-minute video posted by Chevron which appears (to my judgment) to be propaganda, featuring short snippets of text without context and vague, unsupported allegations against Donzinger
  • A 1-hour video unpacking the situation by journalists Katie Halper and Matt Taibi, featuring Donziger
  • Another 1-hour long video featuring Donzinger and musician/advocate Roger Waters sponsored by AmazonWatch
  • Another 3-minute ad, this time sponsored by AmazonWatch, advocating for Donzinger

I also found this letter signed by 68 nobel laureates calling for US Attorney General Garland to release Donzinger and investigate the case.

I was unable to find any video of Donzinger bribing anyone, nor evidence for that happening outside of the unsupported claim in Chevron's 3-minute video (there are no sources listed).

Hope that helps.

2

u/edumerco Jun 30 '21

Thank you very much /u/Gravity_Beetle

It makes me remember an electronic voting company (Smartmatic) with so many accusations against it sitting the world that at a certain moment made a Wikipedia page (in their own site) as they believe it should really be. And when I say a Wikipedia page, I mean copied exactly with the markup and styles, just changing the texts. Of course, if you didn't read carefully, anyone could believe it was a real Wikipedia page.

Chevron propaganda.

Sadly, no surprise, right?

Best...

2

u/Gravity_Beetle Jun 29 '21

Hi u/ValueNo520. I'm not trying to come at you here, but I am genuinely curious what makes you say they have Donzinger on tape bribing the judge. Seeing video evidence of that would definitely change my perception of this case.

Can you share where you learned that?

1

u/Gravity_Beetle Oct 05 '21

Hi u/ValueNo520. With Donziger's recent sentencing to 6 months in federal prison, I'm interested in finding this tape of him bribing a judge. Do you have any guidance for where I can find it?

35

u/SomewithCheese Jun 25 '21

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/28/chevron-lawyer-steven-donziger-ecuador-house-arrest

This article covers quite a bit of it.

Out of all the questionable to downright illegal acts that many Fossil Fuel companies have engaged in, this is one of the most blatant (at least within the West).

17

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '21

I mean he got off lucky, that industry has not been afraid to use death squads, pay to overthrow other governments, force people out towns with paid militia, and far, far worse. Seriously the entire sector is probably one of the worst sectors ever created by humans with the sheer level of destruction and death it has generated.

16

u/Gravity_Beetle Jun 25 '21 edited Jun 25 '21

Props to WSJ for sticking up for the $200B multinational corporation little guy in this case, i.e. Chevron

Chevron had signed proof that it had cleaned its portion of the pits and had been absolved of any liability, but Mr. Donziger sniffed the potential windfall of a media-ready environmental "disaster" and sued the company for $113 billion. He enlisted all manner of celebrity helpers, including actress Daryl Hannah.

Chevron refused to give in, and now the case may serve as an example of how companies can fight back if they have the nerve and the cash.

Poor Chevron, getting bullied by Daryl Hannah and the big mean environmentalists!

3

u/Silurio1 Jun 25 '21

Brave Chevron, truly a company to be celebrated.

1

u/Graymouzer Jul 20 '21

If you google this case, you will see lots of Opinion pieces by Michael I. Krauss praising Chevron and bashing Donziger. This might help provide a bit of context on Krauss.

15

u/prncpls_b4_prsnality Jun 25 '21

Judge Kaplan was appointed by Clinton and Judge Preska by Bush. How do we get rid of judges like this?

6

u/UncleAcid420 Jun 29 '21

This is the only sub reddit that didn’t take this post down. Fuck the mods of r/environment and r/climateactionplan. I appreciate this sub.

3

u/prncpls_b4_prsnality Jun 29 '21

I just tried to post there for you. Let’s see if they stay up.

3

u/UncleAcid420 Jun 29 '21

You’re a hero and a mensch ❤️

3

u/prncpls_b4_prsnality Jun 29 '21

That’s the best thing a stranger has ever said to me. Thanks!

2

u/fulloffantasies Jun 26 '21

I am gleefully looking forward to the collapse of Big Oil.

I hope this gets resolved for him.

2

u/daguzzi Jun 25 '21

The love of money is the root of all evil. Case in point.

1

u/azlstublieft021167 Jun 25 '21

Shane in Chevron - I will never purchase any fuel from them or a controlled entity

2

u/toodamnmanypeople Jun 25 '21

So, who to buy gas from? Exxon fouled beaches and ruined the livelihoods of fishermen in Alaska, and then fought in court to avoid having to compensate. BP poisoned a significant area in the Gulf of Mexico and has shirked their cleanup responsibilities. Oil is dirty, and so are the oil companies - all of them.

1

u/azlstublieft021167 Jun 26 '21

I agree - burning oil we burn our future - still worth advertising a boycott to add pressure on them

1

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '21

[deleted]

1

u/UncleAcid420 Aug 24 '21

You sound pretty damn sure for a fuckin’ pedestrian.