Wanna try it in your town?

Bob









--- In AmericanDUST@yahoogroups.com, Fernwoods@... wrote:
>
>
> On February 7, 2008, the Town Council of Halifax, Virginia, voted
> unanimously to adopt an ordinance banning corporate chemical and
radioactive bodily
> trespass. Enacted to confront concerns about the proposed uranium
mine in
> adjacent Pittsylvania County, the ordinance establishes strict
liability and
> burden-of-proof standards for culpable corporations and government
entities that
> permit and facilitate corporate bodily trespass.
>
> The ordinance also strips corporations of constitutional
protections within
> the town. The Town of Halifax thus becomes the 10th municipality in
the
> nation to refuse to recognize corporate constitutional "rights,"
and to prohibit
> corporate rights from being used to override the rights of human
and natural
> communities.
>
> The ordinance adopted by the Halifax Town Council also recognizes
the rights
> of natural communities and ecosystems to exist and flourish within
the town
> and provides for the enforcement and defense of those rights, and
prohibits
> corporations from interfering with the civil rights of residents,
including
> residents' right to self-government. The ordinance was drafted for
the Halifax
> Town Council by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, a
> Pennsylvania-The ordinance adopted by
>
> Ben Price, Projects Director for the Legal Defense Fund commented
that "The
> people of the Town of Halifax have determined that they do not
consent to be
> irradiated, nor to be trespassed upon, by toxic substances that
would be
> released by Virginia Uranium, Inc., or any other state-chartered
corporation. The
> people have asserted their right and their duty to protect their
families,
> environment, and future generations. In enacting this law, the
community has
> gone on record as rejecting the legal theory behind Dillon's Rule,
which
> erroneously asserts that there is no inherent right to local
self-government. The
> American Revolution was about nothing less than the fundamental
right of the
> people to be the decision-makers on issues directly affecting the
communities
> in which they live. They understood that a central government, at some
> distance removed from those affected, acts beyond its authority in
empowering a
> few powerful men â€"privileged with chartered immunities and rights
superior to
> the people in the community â€" to deny citizens' rights, impose
harm, and
> refuse local self-determination. The people of the Town of Halifax
have acted in
> the best tradition of liberty and freedom, and confronted injustice
in the
> form of a state-permitted corporate assault against the consent of
the sovereign
> people."
>
> Shireen Parsons, the Legal Defense Fund's Virginia Organizer,
commended the
> action of the Halifax Town Council, stating that, "The council members
> demonstrated courage and solidarity in their commitment to justice
and their duty
> to govern in the interest of protecting and preserving the health,
safety and
> wellbeing of the people from whom they derive their power. This is the
> beginning of something wonderful in Virginia."
>
> Halifax Town Council member Jack Dunavant said of the decision,
"This is an
> historic vote. We, the people, intend to protect our health and
environment
> from corporate assault. It's time to invoke the Constitution and
acknowledge
> the power of the people to protect our own destiny and end this era of
> corporate greed and pollution."
>
> The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, located in
Chambersburg,
> Pennsylvania, has worked with communities resisting corporate
assaults upon
> democratic self-governance since 1995. Among other programs, it has
brought its
> unique Daniel Pennock Democracy Schools to communities in 26 states
in which
> people seek to end destructive and rights-denying corporate acts
routinely
> permitted by state and federal agencies. In Pennsylvania alone,
more than 100
> municipalities have enacted ordinances authored by the Legal
Defense Fund.
>
>
>
>
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>