Friday, May 25, 2007

Chelsea was sentenced to nine years


Chelsea's statement to the media:

It's becoming increasingly clear that the continued exploitation of the Earth is causing drastic consequences: global warming, toxic pollution, mass extinction.
Fundamental changes are needed in our society to achieve peace and sustainability. We all need to take personal responsibility for healing our relationship with the land and with each other.


The family's statement:

Chelsea is a very special person and we know that she will use her time in prison to the betterment of those around her. As her family, we appreciate the kindness Judge Aiken showed in reducing her sentence by a year. However, the government made the very rare decision to reverse its recommendation and allow her to be released pending prison and we're very disappointed that the court didn't approve that request. With how impressed both sides of the table were with her transformation, we're frankly shocked that the court didn't give that much more consideration in reducing her sentence.



As regards the statements against her parents:

We recognize and respect the decision of the court, however, the judge did not fully understand Chelsea's exceptional early maturity and accomplishments that earned our respect and trust. She had never given any indication of poor judgement or criminal intent and her parents trusted her. It wasn't benign neglect.
We share the grief of the tragedy of these crimes, but it wasn't caused by parental neglect.
In all, this experience has brought us closer to Chelsea and closer together as a family and in that way we are grateful for it.