“Babe” star James Cromwell sentenced to jail
<p>James Cromwell, known for his roles in <em>Babe</em>, <em>L.A. Confidential</em>, <em>The Green Mile</em> and<em> The Artist</em>, has been sentenced to seven days in jail after failing to pay a fine for obstructing traffic during a protest in 2015.</p>
<p>The 77-year-old and two fellow environmentalists, Pramilla Malick and Madeline Shaw, were fined $488 for the offense, which occurred at the proposed site of a gas power plant in New York. He was part of a group known as the “Wawayanda Six” who held a sit-in to protest the negative environmental impact the plant would have on the area. The other three activists paid their fines and will not face jail.</p>
<p>“A poisonous, misguided energy policy, driven by a rapacious, deceitful industry, and abetted by corrupt, self-serving political leadership is condemning all sentient life on this planet to a gruesome extinction,” the actor said in a statement to <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/864622/james-cromwell-speaks-out-after-jail-sentence-anyone-with-a-sense-of-outrage-is-compelled-to-resist" target="_blank"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">E! News</span></strong></em></a>.</p>
<p>“To remain silent in the face of such a cataclysm is to be culpable and complicit. The extraction of fossil fuels has become, in this compromised environment, a crime against humanity. Anyone with a sense of outrage is compelled to resist. Any law that facilitates and justifies such a crime by stifling dissent is unjust. History will vindicate our struggle and excoriate the perpetrators. That is, if there is a history.”</p>
<p>The Competitive Power Ventures plant construction is set to go ahead and will be opened in February 2018.</p>