Don Blankenship, Former Massey Energy C.E.O. Guilty in Deadly Coal Mine Blast

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U.S. Department of Justice Files Amicus Brief to Support Appeal by Colorado Civil Rights Organizations in Voter Intimidation Suit

Posted on November 15, 2024 (November 20, 2024)

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in support of NAACP Colorado, League of Women Voters of Colorado, and Mi Familia Vota. These groups, represented by Free Speech For People and co-counsel Bryan Sells, filed their appeal brief last week, challenging the
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Computer Scientists: Breaches of Voting System Software Warrant Recounts to Ensure Election Verification

Posted on November 13, 2024 (November 18, 2024)

Election Protection

A group of computer security experts have written to Vice President Kamala Harris to alert her to the fact that voting systems were breached by Trump allies in 2021 and 2022 and to urge her to seek recounts in key states to ensure election verification. Following the 2020 election, operatives working with Trump attorneys accessed
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Free Speech For People’s Statement on the 2024 Election

Posted on November 8, 2024 (November 12, 2024)

FSFP Updates

Our democracy is worth saving. This election cycle, our democracy has been staggered by blow after blow. We cannot pretend otherwise; to do so would be to accept that this hamstrung system is the one with which we must live. It is not and we do not accept that it is. We will keep fighting
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Does the name “Don Blankenship” ring a bell? It should.Yesterday, he was convicted of a federal charge stemming from a deadly coal mine blast that left 29 miners dead at the Big Branch Mine in 2010.

Blankenship is now the most prominent coal boss to be convicted of a charge connected to a fatal mining accident. Blankenship, whose businesses came under intense scrutiny after the accident, was charged with conspiring to violate mine safety standards, all while deceiving investors and regulators.

A jury acquitted Blankenship of making false statements and securities fraud, but prosecutors could only convict on one of the three charges.

The charge stemming from the Big Branch accident, which is the deadliest in decades, carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison on the misdemeanor conspiracy charge.

Don Blankenship has to answer for his crimes, and Massey Energy should too.

An independent report investigating the West Virginia explosion, found Massey Energy responsible for violating and neglecting safety conditions that caused the deadly accident. Massey’s parent corporation agreed to criminal and civil penalties, which amounted to no more than a slap on the wrist for the corporation.

Massey Energy must be held responsible for the death of its 29 miners.

In 2011, Free Speech For People, Appalachian Voices, and Rainforest Action Network, delivered a petition with 35,000 signatures calling for Massey’s corporate charter to be revoked.

Revoking Massey Energy’s corporate charter in Delaware will hold the corporation accountable and send a message that they cannot continue doing business while breaking the law. The fact that Massy has since merged with another coal mining company, Alpha Natural Resources, does not remove the need to hold Massey Energy accountable where its charter is based.

A corporation is an artificial entity. It exists only because we the people — represented by a state government — allot a charter. Just as we the people can grant that charter, we can also revoke it. Most major corporations in the U.S., including Massey Energy, are legally based in Delaware. To revoke a charter, the state of Delaware must take action.

More information on our call to revoke Massey Energy’s corporate charter is available, here.

And, watch the video below to see how Corporate Charter Revocation can hold Massey Energy and others responsible for their actions.

More coverage on the Don Blankenship Conviction