Steven Donziger, who battled Chevron over pollution in Ecuador, is asking President Biden for a pardon after his controversial legal troubles.
New York: So, here’s the scoop. Steven Donziger, an American human rights lawyer, is looking for a pardon from President Biden. He’s been in a long, tough battle with Chevron over some serious oil pollution issues in Ecuador.
Donziger spent a whopping 993 days under house arrest in Manhattan. That was two years ago, and it all stemmed from a contempt charge. He didn’t want to hand over his phone and legal files to Chevron, which is pretty wild.
His time in confinement was way longer than what’s typical for such charges. Chevron accused him of bribing an Ecuadorian judge, but he’s always denied that. Back in 2011, he actually won a huge $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron for dumping oil waste in indigenous communities in the Amazon. That’s a big deal!
He recently told The Guardian that getting a pardon would send a strong message to corporations. He believes it would show that they can’t just go after people who hold them accountable for their actions.
Even though he’s out of detention, Donziger feels like he’s still not free. He was disbarred because of his contempt conviction, and he can’t even leave the U.S. right now.
The Biden administration has been pretty active with pardons lately, helping out folks like his son Hunter and others with non-violent offenses. A group of 34 lawmakers even wrote to Biden, urging him to pardon Donziger. They think the charges against him are questionable and could set a bad precedent for future cases involving human rights and the environment.
They pointed out that a U.N. Human Rights Council opinion said Donziger’s punishment violated human rights standards. It’s a pretty big deal when you think about it.
Donziger himself has said that the legal case against him is tied to his fight against Chevron. He believes the industry is scared of the precedent his case sets, especially since Chevron hasn’t paid up for the damages they caused.
Chevron, on the other hand, claims they’ve already done their part by paying for clean-up efforts back in 1998. They argue that Donziger is a fraud and that he was disbarred for serious misconduct. They’ve got a lot to say about this whole situation.