Support the Formosa 4! Come to Court!

Date: Tuesday, April 1
Location: Essex County Veterans Courthouse. 50 W. Market Street, 8^th Floor. Newark, New Jersey 07102. Parking lot entrance off South Orange Ave., Route 510

8:15 am: Press Conference/rally at the Rosa Parks Statue, next to the Market Street entrance of the Courthouse, then head up to the courtroom.

9:00 am: Court Hearing. 8th floor. Courtroom of Judge Hon. Arthur J. Batista, J.S.C. Attend the argument of the Formosa 4’s appeal from the Municipal Court’s denial of their right to present the affirmative defense of necessity/justification in their trespassing trial.

Paid parking lot entrance off South Orange Ave., Route 510

Wear red.

About the Formosa 4:
On August 2, 2024, more than 70 protestors – including clergy, parents, and environmental justice leaders from around the country – gathered at Formosa’s USA headquarters in Livingston, New Jersey. Six were arrested after engaging in civil disobedience. The Formosa 4 asserted the affirmative defense of environmental and public health necessity or justification supported by expert testimony to the defiant trespass charges they are facing, but the Municipal Court Judge said he would not permit it. Argument of their interlocutory appeal from that decision will be heard by Superior Court Judge Arthur J. Batista judge on April 1 in Newark.

About the 4 defendants: Diane Wilson, Goldman Award winner, and Executive Director of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper; Robin Schneider, Executive Director of Texas Campaign for the Environment; Matthew Kennedy, Petrochemical Campaign Coordinator at Texas Campaign for the Environment; Paula Rogovin, resident of Teaneck, NJ and the Co-chair of Food and Water Watch, North Jersey Volunteer Team.

Formosa Plastics Corporate Background:
Formosa Plastics Group has a long history of violating environmental laws and destroying communities. Groups throughout the world have been working to increase public awareness of Formosa Plastics and its history as a bad actor and their efforts to avoid accountability for the pollution they are responsible for in Texas, Louisiana, and across the globe. Groups also see plastics production as a major source of fossil fuel pollution and cause of climate disasters. For more information about that campaign: www.formosa4.org.