Thursday, June 20, 2019
INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 114
© 2019 The Michigan Daily
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS......................................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
My name
Subarna Bhattacharya shares
sentiments behind her
Bengali name, which trans-
lates to “the color of gold”
>> SEE PAGE 9
NEWS
Flu vaccine
Researcher leads team in
finding universal influenza
vaccine
>> SEE PAGE 3
OPINION
Pura Vida
Anne Else highlights Costa
Rica’s commitment to
environmental policy
>> SEE PAGE 5
ARTS
Hippo Campus
The band sat down with
the Daily after their
energetic Bonnaroo
performance
>> SEE PAGE 6
SPORTS
Baseball
Team is one win away
from College World Series
Final
>> SEE PAGE 12
inside
2
4
6
9
10
Arraignment
results in
Sept. 9 date for
pre-trial
On
Monday
morning,
six
demonstrators
charged
with
trespassing
from
March’s
Climate Strike appeared in court
for the first time. All parties
pleaded not guilty to the charges
and the pre-trial was set for Sept.
9 at 9 a.m.
On
March
15,
2019,
10
individuals,
including
two
minors,
were
arrested
and
given citations for trespassing
following
a
seven-hour
sit-
in at Fleming Administration
Building. Demonstrators, who
came
from
the
Washtenaw
County Climate Strike earlier
that day, refused to leave until
administration addressed a list
of demands, which included a
one-hour public meeting with
University of Michigan President
Mark Schlissel in which questions
regarding the University’s plan
to address climate change and
carbon
neutrality
were
not
screened beforehand.
In a March 21 letter addressed
to members of the Climate
Action
Movement,
Schlissel
responded to the requests of the
demonstrators, where he said
the University has been “actively
engaging”
with
community
members and Climate Action
Movement organizers on issues
regarding carbon neutrality.
“To achieve our shared goal
of carbon neutrality as soon as
possible, it is essential that the
community engage in identifying
and understanding the challenges
and contributing to the solutions
necessary to convert from fossil
fuels to non-carbon sources of
energy,” Schlissel wrote. “I will
continue to look for opportunities
to engage with your membership
and the broader community on
these issues — everyone has a role
to play.”
Following
the
Climate
Strike, Schlissel held a public
meeting on April 9 to discuss the
University’s actions to address
climate change. Issues discussed
at the meeting included divesting
from fossil fuels and the makeup
of the President’s Commission
on Carbon Neutrality, which
includes
energy
industry
representatives.
Two months after the Climate
Strike, all individuals except the
two minors were charged with
trespassing misdemeanors. The
trespassing complaint is identical
in all cases, and the maximum
sentence that can be imposed is
$250 fine and/or 30 days in jail.
When asked about the decision
to
charge
demonstrators,
University spokeswoman Kim
Broekhuizen wrote in an email to
The Daily the University does not
decide whether to bring criminal
charges and directed The Daily
to
the
Washtenaw
County
prosecutor’s office.
“Thousands
of
students
participate
in
the
climate
action rally without incident,”
Broekhuizen
wrote.
“Hundreds
others
protested
in the president’s office in the
following weeks. Still others
addressed the Board of Regents
in public meetings. Only a small
number are now facing charges
because they refused to leave
the Fleming Building.”
In response to why the office
pressed charges, Steven Hiller,
chief
assistant
Washtenaw
County prosecuting attorney,
wrote in an email to The Daily
the prosecutor’s office cannot
discuss the facts of a case before
it is adjudicated to respect the
defendant’s right to a fair trial.
District judge
files response
to ‘U’ petition
Response criticizes
attempts from ‘U’
lawyers to excuse
Schlissel from court
U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow
responded to an order from the
U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
on Monday afternoon, criticizing
University of Michigan attorneys
for not participating in “good faith”
and accusing the University of going
“extraordinary” lengths to ensure
President Mark Schlissel did not have
to publicly appear in court during the
ongoing Doe v. University of Michigan
lawsuit.
“The University’s attorneys appear
to be more concerned with keeping
the President out of the public eye
than with prompt resolution of this
case and providing a fair process
for adjudicating sexual misconduct
claims,” Tarnow wrote.
Tarnow’s response is filed after the
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted
a last-minute appeal by the University
to delay the June 13 public settlement
conference for the lawsuit at which
Schlissel was scheduled to appear.
In the response, Tarnow addressed a
University petition filed at the same
time asking the Sixth Circuit Court to
not require Schlissel’s attendance and
move the conference off-the-record
and closed to the public.
Deborah Gordon, the plaintiff’s
attorney, has not yet filed a response.
In the order, Raymond Kethledge,
circuit judge for the U.S. Sixth District
Court of Appeals, requested responses
from Gordon and Tarnow within
10 days and wrote the settlement
conference would be delayed until
further notice.
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Read more at michigandaily.com
ALEX HARRING &
CLAIRE HAO
Summer Managing News Editor &
Summer News Editor
BARBARA COLLINS
& CLAIRE HAO
Summer Managing News Editor &
Summer News Editor
Read more at michigandaily.com
michigandaily.com
Climate Strike demonstrators
appear in court for trespassing
Photos by DARBY STIPE/Daily & BARBARA COLLINS
The University students and other demonstrators are arrested and given citations during a sit-in in President Mark Schlissel’s office on March 19 (left)
and attend their arraignment hearing on Monday morning (right).