Overview
- Judge James Gion on Friday entered a final judgment of about $345 million, consistent with his October move to cut a roughly $667 million jury award.
- The ruling launches the next phase of litigation, with Energy Transfer and Greenpeace preparing appeals to the North Dakota Supreme Court and Greenpeace seeking a new trial.
- A nine-person jury in March 2025 found Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace Fund liable on claims including defamation, trespass, nuisance, conspiracy and deprivation of property access.
- Energy Transfer called the decision an important step toward accountability, while Greenpeace says the suit is meant to silence dissent and reports it cannot pay, with $1.4 million in cash and $23 million in assets as of Dec. 31, 2024.
- The case stems from 2016–2017 protests near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, and Greenpeace has filed related counter-litigation in the Netherlands under anti‑SLAPP rules as legal experts warn of potential chilling effects on advocacy.