Embattled human rights attorney Steven Donziger on Wednesday urged the Second Circuit to reverse a lower court’s order that has kept him in home confinement since 2019 on a contempt charge with a maximum sentence of six months in prison, stemming from his decades-long fight with Chevron over pollution in Ecuador.
Donziger has been under home confinement for 582 days since U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan directed that criminal contempt charges be filed against the now-disbarred attorney over his alleged refusal to comply with orders directing him to provide access to electronic devices, email and social media accounts for inspection in Chevron’s 2011 civil case against him alleging fraud.
Judge Kaplan, following the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office’s refusal to prosecute Donziger for contempt, referred the allegations to Rita Glavin of Seward & Kissel LLP to act in the government’s stead.
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