Yesterday, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Earth First! Journal urged a federal court to impose sanctions against Donald Trump's go-to law firm, Kasowitz Benson Torres, which represents corporations developing the Dakota Access Pipeline. The sanctions motion claims that Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) and Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) misused the legal system by suing "Earth First!" for federal racketeering, despite knowing that "Earth First!" is a philosophy or an idea, not an entity that can be sued.

...Last month, CCR served Kasowitz Benson Torres and its co-counsel the Vogel Law Firm with the motion, as the primary rule governing sanctions requires that the offending lawyers receive advance notice of a sanctions motion in order to give them the opportunity to withdraw their improperly filed papers. Kasowitz Benson Torres and the Vogel Law Firm have not done so...

...“Trump’s lawyers were given an opportunity to withdraw papers they knew were improper and avoid sanctions,” ... “Their refusal leaves no doubt that the aim of this lawsuit is not to address racketeering, but to scare activists opposing pipelines into silence. It’s not working.”