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A Voice for Nature: Student Environmental Activists on Trial over Billboard Pollution and Civil Disobedience The Context: This mock trial is designed to allow the audience to explore the tensions between the public good and private interests in relation to the environment, unrestrained development, and community aesthetics, as well as the risks and benefits involved in breaking silence.
The Hypothetical Case: Students at John Muir High School have been studying the Black River and the surrounding old growth forests as part of their biology curriculum taught by their teacher. During the course of study the students have observed the Red-Tailed Wily Owl, a bird whose number are dwindling. The owl has been making its habitat in the dense Black River Forest near the riverbank. One day the students arrive at the forest's edge to see a host of orange ribbons tied around acres of tree trunks. Concrete is being poured for the foundation of a series of billboards to be mounted in a mile-long stretch of floodway. Ms. Carson and her students are enraged after confirming with a representative from billboard company Sign of the Times, Inc. that the billboards advertising sport utility vehicles (SUV) will go up the following day. Tammy Vanderbilt, CEO of the company, says she is sorry about the owl, but there are acres of trees remaining that the owls can migrate to. And, if her company does not develop the site, another will. Owen Buckman, leader of the student group, responds that his group is concerned about the encroachment on the river, possibility of increased flooding, habitat depletion of the Red-Tailed Wily Owl, and the visual and light pollution resulting from the billboards. Buckman and his friends believe that as citizens of the earth, it is their civil duty to defend the environment and speak out against visual blight if government will not. To make their point and attempt to curtail further environmental degradation, Buckman and the other students return to the site after the billboard has been erected. They climb it and camp out on the platform all day for two days from 8 – 6 p.m. On the morning of the third day, the students return and find a billboard that has been burnt and bent, resulting in $10,000 in damages. They resume their sit-in. Law enforcement officials ask them to leave. They refuse to do so and are arrested. They deny the charge of vandalism. The Legal Issues: Due to damage to their property and a desire to make a public statement, the billboard company brings a civil suit against the students for trespass and vandalism. For additional information contact: Event Sponsor: Additional Resources: |
