State v. Klapstein

The Minnesota Supreme Court denied the State’s petitions for further review of a trial court’s determination that four climate change protesters could present a necessity defense. The defendants participated in a “valve turner” protest in 2016 in which they entered an oil pipeline valve station to shut off the pipeline. An intermediate appellate court dismissed the State’s appeal in April 2018. The Climate Defense Project, which represents the defendants, said the trial would include expert testimony on the science of climate change and the efficacy of nonviolent civil disobedience.