This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sending Tim DeChristopher to prison will send this message to the world: Acts of peaceful civil disobedience will be severely punished in Utah.
In 2008, DeChristopher successfully monkey-wrenched a Bureau of Land Management auction of oil and gas leases, some of which were for parcels of land within eyeshot of Arches National Park. A federal court later found the auction to be invalid because BLM ignored its own policies (in order to rush the sale before the end of the Bush administration), so it seems both fair and accurate to conclude that DeChristopher's actions caused no physical or economic harm.
DeChristopher acted upon his conscience, which was telling him that our energy policies are inherently wrong and bad for everyone on the planet. When he entered the auction as a bidder, DeChristopher knew what he was doing was illegal, but he thought somebody had to bring attention to the problem. He was willing to sacrifice his freedom to try to make things better for everyone.
Maybe he was crazy, and maybe he still is crazy, but he didn't hurt anyone, and sending him to prison will be nothing but mean and stupid.
Scott Carrier
Salt Lake City