USA: Court must dismiss Energy Transfer's suit against EarthFirst! as it is a philosophy, NGO says
" Trump Lawyers Attempt to Sue an Environmental Philosophy under Anti-Racketeering Laws ", 5 Dec 2017
On behalf of the environmental magazine the Earth First! Journal, the Center for Constitutional Rights urged a court to dismiss parts of a lawsuit brought by Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) and Energy Transfer Equity (ETE)...[which] have attempted to sue the broad social movement known as Earth First! for racketeering.
...Todayโs filing points out that the plaintiff pipeline companies themselves admit Earth First! is a โphilosophyโ or โmovementโ with โno membersโ or โformal leadershipโ; as a matter of law, therefore, it cannot be sued. Trumpโs lawyers nonetheless attempted to serve the movement Earth First! by mailing a complaint to the offices of the Earth First! Journal in Lake Worth, Florida, a small collective typically made up of two to five staff members.
...Advocates say the suits are part of the ongoing labeling of social activism as terrorism, from environmental and animal rights activism to the Black Lives Matter movement.