A trial in the life of the environmental justice movement: USA v. Citgo

• Date: 02 November 2009
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-4337(2009)0000049007
• Pages: 97-121
• Published date: 02 November 2009
• Author: Anna-Maria Marshall

A TRIAL IN THE LIFE OF THE

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

MOVEMENT: USA V. CITGO

Anna-Maria Marshall

INTRODUCTION

Trials provide social movements with a public arena that can advance social

movement goals. The adversarial structure of a trial gives social movements

an opportunity to articulate their grievances and to sub ject their opponents to

cross-examination. The drama associated with trials often attracts media

attention, thus creating a broad audience for the movement’s message.

Moreover, trials can sometimes provide opportunities for collective experi-

ences, bringing together activists, lawyers, experts, and other actors whose

combined efforts can both strengthen the movement and promote its goals.

But trials are expensive. The lawyers, the experts, and the delays associated

with bringing a case to trial all represent costs that social movements might

be unprepared to bear. At such times, they may seek out allies who can

provide additional resources. Law clinics, attorneys offering pro bono

services, and legal rights organizations can sometimes help social movements

who want to use the legal system. But rarely do movements seek the help in

the criminal justice system. Rather, law enforcement and prosecutors are

often associated with repressing social movement activism rather than

promoting it. Still, criminal trials offer meaningful possibilities to social

movements. First, prosecutors have extensive resources and experience in

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Volume 49, 97–121

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leading investigations, hiring experts, and conducting trials. More impor-

tantly, criminal trials have symbolic significance, allowing a movement to

claim the state as an ally and to characterize its opponents as criminals.

In this chapter, I describe the prosecution of Citgo for environmental

crimes in Corpus Christi, Texas. After a four-week trial, a federal jury

convicted Citgo of two counts of criminal violations of the Clean Air Act.

Later, after a bench trial before a judge, Citgo was also convicted of three

misdemeanor counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The trial

gave a social movement organization, Citizens for Environmental Justice

(CFEJ), an opportunity to educate the public about hazardous environ-

mental conditions in their communities, to challenge corporate malfeasance,

and to claim legitimacy for their cause. In this chapter, I use the Citgo

prosecution as a case study to suggest ways of understanding the role of

litigation in social movements’ strategic choices.

LITIGATION IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL

JUSTICE MOVEMENT

Studies of social movementshave reflected a persistent ambivalence about the

role of law and litigation in the life of a social movement. On the one hand,

many have shown that a social movement can effectively use litigation to

educate the public about its cause and to raise consciousness among potential

activists. Others believe,however, that legal strategies are conventional tactics

dominated by elites and professionals who offer, at best, modest reform while

also demobilizing grassroots participation in the movement. This latter view

is prevalent among both activists in and scholars of the environmental justice

movement. In this section, I briefly describe the environmental justice

movement and situate it in the scholarly debate about the role of legal

strategies in social movements.

The Environmental Justice Movement

The environmental justice movement is made up of many individuals and

small, grassroots organizations that are fighting environmental degradation

in their immediate communities (Szasz, 1994). Environmental justice

activists tend to be poor or working class individuals and families whose

homes, jobs, or schools are located near sources of pollution. As a result of

this proximity, these individuals develop serious health problems or the

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