Bidder 70 goes on trial

Tim DeChristopher goes on trial Monday. He faces 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines for punking the last-minute auction of federal oil and gas leases in southern Utah in the last days of the Bush administration.  The auctions were later determined to be illegal.  He will not be allowed to use a “necessity” defense, or even mention his reasons for disrupting the auction.  If found guilty, he should be pardoned.