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Dec. 9, 2024


** Minnesota Supreme Court to Hear Press Freedom Case Stemming From Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
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Graphic with Unicorn Riot microphone - Text: Minnesota Supreme Court to hear press freedom case stemming from Dakota Access Pipeline protests on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. Attend or tune in: 9 a.m. CT/10 a.m. ET Minnesota Judicial Center 690 Cedar St, Courtroom 300 St. Paul, MN 55155 Livestream of the hearing: [link removed]

Tuesday, December 10 at 9 a.m. CT/10 a.m. ET

Minnesota Judicial Center

690 Cedar St, Courtroom 300

St. Paul, MN 55155

Livestream of the hearing will be available here: [link removed]

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, the Minnesota Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Energy Transfer LP v. Greenpeace International, Unicorn Riot, in which the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Minnesota, and the law firm Biersdorf & Associates represent media organization Unicorn Riot and one of its member journalists. Unicorn Riot seeks to quash a subpoena for sensitive communications, recordings, and other unreleased newsgathering materials from the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests.

Unicorn Riot journalists reported on the ground from the DAPL protests, gathering and publishing first-hand accounts. The oil company Energy Transfer, together with other plaintiffs, later sued the protesters in North Dakota and, in 2022, moved to compel disclosure of unpublished materials held by Unicorn Riot in Minnesota, alleging that trespassing made the materials unprotected. The Minnesota Court of Appeals held that Minnesota’s press shield law, the Free Flow of Information Act, protects the materials from disclosure, and Energy Transfer petitioned the Minnesota Supreme Court to take the case.

At the Minnesota Supreme Court, in October 2024 the ACLU filed a brief on behalf of Unicorn Riot arguing that the First Amendment, the Minnesota Constitution, and the Minnesota Free Flow of Information Act prohibit the compelled disclosure of newsgathering materials. The brief highlights that Energy Transfer seeks to conjure an unwritten exception to the state’s shield law, and that the law’s purpose would be severely undermined if “the statutory shield were to evaporate whenever, in the course of newsgathering, a reporter allegedly trespasses, speeds, jaywalks, or double-parks.”

Catch up on the years of case updates ([link removed]) and help us recoup some of the $50,000 we’ve spent on this court battle by donating to our legal fund ([link removed]) .
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Unicorn Riot, 2024. All media, unless otherwise noted, is licensed Creative Commons NonCommercial ShareAlike Attribution.

Unicorn Riot’s EIN #47-3482047.

Our mailing address is:
Unicorn Riot

PO Box 7472

Minneapolis, MN 55407

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