Comic strips

Calvin and Hobbes bring order in the court

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Alan Gardner February 12, 2014 1 minute 4 comments

Twenty fracking protesters were found guilty of trespassing, but not before the judge used a Calvin and Hobbes strip to encourage them to work within the system rather than break the law to educate people about fracking. Here’s the relevant Calvin and Hobbes strip:

From the Post Bulletin:

While Winona County Judge Jeffrey Thompson was considering what orders to give the six-member jury as they went into deliberation, he cited one of Bill Watterson’s comics to illustrate a point. In the comic, the boy and his stuffed tiger wonder aloud why superheroes are always depicted battling malicious bad guys rather than fighting everyday problems in, say, the city council chamber.

Judge Thompson went on to encourage the protesters to continue working through the typical regulatory paths ? the city council or county board, for example ? to change peoples’ minds on frac sand mining. When pressed by defense attorney Richmond McCluer on whether the specific Calvin and Hobbes comic strip would be entered into the record as evidence, Judge Thompson gave it to his clerk with a wry smile.

Hat tip: Kevin Melrose