Update with breaking news: The trial for these 10 defendants has been postponed until January 31 and Feb. 1 because the prosecution had not turned over evidence to the defense in a timely manner.

[The judge] also deferred ruling on [the prosecutor's] motion to exclude issues of tribal sovereignty, the concerns about the Dakota Access Pipeline and "any other social or political cause." She wrote in her order that the defendants did not have adequate time before trial to respond to the motion, which was filed Dec. 12. [Prosecutor] Erickson could raise objections if such issues arose at trial, she wrote.

**the original post continues below**

The first criminal trials of some water protectors begin today, December 19, in Bismarck. The best coverage has been (again) by Jordan from TYT. He interviewed Kelli Love, one of the people arrested, who lays out the situation clearly and eloquently in the video below. There appear to be numerous civil rights violations and problems with due process, including new charges being added at the last minute (after pleas had already been entered) and motions by the prosecutor to forbid any video evidence and to forbid any mention of environmental damage, treaty rights, or any of the other reasons that the water protectors were where they were, doing what they were doing.

The video is long (19 mins) but worth it. Kelli Love explains what's happening and tells us what we can do to support the people on trial. This is the new frontline, she says.

The Water Protector Legal Collective, a project of the National Lawyers Guild, is calling for "the resignation of Acting Morton County State’s Attorney Ladd Erickson after he filed a motion to hold indigent Water Protectors liable to repay the state for their court appointed lawyers, while belittling and calling the Water Protectors 'props' and their movement a 'protracted manufactured spectacular.'”

“State’s Attorney Erickson set out to use the most slanderous words and harmful rhetoric he could muster to defame the Water Protector defendants, their lawyers and supporters, and undermine the legitimacy of the Standing Rock encampment and concern over the DAPL," said Jeff Haas, WPLC lawyer. “Certainly, another objective of Erikson’s motion was to bias prospective Morton County jurors who will be hearing the first Standing Rock jury trial set for Monday, December 19. For the reasons above, WPLC calls on State’s Attorney Erickson to step down as prosecutor. WPLC calls on the courts to decide whether his prosecutorial conduct has tainted the jury pool and prevented a fair trial to the point that the Water Protectors’ cases must be dismissed.

There has been a huge problem in getting attorneys for all the water protectors. Many of the ND rules make it extremely difficult for out-of-state attorneys to practice there, and at least 113 people have been denied public defenders. There is a petition for you to sign at the link, and the ND Supreme Court is asking for public comments by 4pm on Friday, December 30.

“Denying Water Protectors their constitutional rights to counsel is a far more serious barrier to justice than concrete slabs across a highway,” said William Tilton, WPLC lawyer. “We filed to call on the Supreme Court to recognize this judicial emergency and open the courts to qualified criminal lawyers who are standing by to help.”