Alt's conviction for coercion was upheld by a Bavarian Higher Regional Court, which rejected his appeal against a lower court ruling related to the blockade.

However, the Bavarian Supreme Court recently overturned a previous ruling regarding another protest, citing insufficient justification for the penalties imposed.

This is not Alt's first conviction; he has a history of activism that includes a previous conviction for participating in a road blockade in Munich in May 2023.

This blockade, which took place in August 2022, involved Alt and others gluing themselves to the street in front of Nuremberg's main train station to raise awareness about climate change.

The protest was partly a reaction to Transportation Minister Volker Wissing's failure to comply with climate law provisions, which Alt argued was a violation of the law.

Public and political reactions to climate protests in Germany have been mixed, with some supporting the cause while others, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have condemned the activists' extreme tactics.

Alt, aged 63, stated that he views imprisonment as a necessary form of protest to highlight climate issues, particularly the inadequacies in current climate policy.

He expressed that serving this sentence is also a gesture of solidarity with other climate activists who face similar legal repercussions.

From prison, Alt criticized German politicians for their inadequate responses to climate change, urging them to heed scientific warnings and be honest about the crisis.

Authorities converted Alt's fine into a prison sentence after he refused to pay, following a court decision that came after he appealed a lower court ruling.

On April 1, 2025, Rev. Jörg Alt, a Jesuit priest and climate activist, began serving a 25-day prison sentence in Nuremberg after refusing to pay a 500-euro fine for his role in a street blockade.

In response to criticism, the activist group Last Generation announced a shift from disruptive street blockades to what they term 'disobedient assemblies'.