Seattle Times (SE) - Tuesday July 5, 1994
By: SEATTLE TIMES NEWS SERVICES
Edition: FIRST Section: LOCAL NEWS Page: B2
MOSCOW, Idaho - A leader of an environmental coalition stood on the steps of the federal building in Moscow and challenged a new state law that makes it a felony to solicit people to help block legal logging operations.
Reading from a prepared statement before about 40 supporters, television cameras and reporters, Mike Roselle, a founder of the environmental group Earth First, said the law violates his constitutional rights and attempts to prohibit legitimate acts of civil disobedience.
"Here in America we still have a right to petition our government, and nonviolent civil disobedience is a constitutionally protected form of free speech," he said.
Besides challenging the law by publicly inviting people to join the anti-logging campaign in the Cove-Mallard area of the Nez Perce National Forest, Roselle vowed he and other protesters will continue speaking out against the Forest Service.
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