Vermont Attorney General Drops Probe of Environmentalist
Source: Associated Press
Vermont Attorney General Drops Probe of Environmentalist
By DAVE GRAM, ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Feb 8, 2016, 5:26 PM ET
The state attorney general's office has dropped its criminal investigation into whether an environmental activist operated as a lawyer without a law license in her advocacy for critics of large-scale wind and solar power projects before state regulators.
The office said on Monday it had examined the claims against Annette Smith and decided to take no action.
News of the investigation had prompted a public outcry from Smith's supporters and others, including newspaper editorial writers, upset by what they saw as a legal action designed to quash someone's free-speech rights.
Smith, who is executive director for a group called Vermonters for a Clean Environment and is not a lawyer, held a news conference on Monday at the Statehouse before a crowd of nearly 100 cheering supporters. She sharply criticized Vermont's system for renewing energy projects. She and her supporters maintain the backdrop for the complaint against her is a Public Service Board review process that is too legalistic and unfriendly to average citizens who want their concerns heard.
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