PNN #181 Show Notes http://bit.ly/14WFdTS
Heroic Minnesota Farmer Loses Big in Court
http://dailyanarchist.com/2013/08/10/substitutionary-justice-in-a-free-society/
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In September 2012, long-time farmer Alvin Schlangen was acquitted in Hennepin County on three charges alleging violations of the state food and dairy code, including a charge of operating without a food handlers license. After a successful legal battle, he went back to working his farm.
Last week, the State dragged Schlangen court again--this time in a new county, facing five more charges related to feeding his community. This time, after a 3-day trial, the jury decided to convict him.
Schlangen offered members of the private buying club, Freedom Farms Co-op, the benefit of his volunteer delivery service as he picked up members' food items, including raw milk, from other farms and delivered it along with products from his Freeport farm.
The criminal charges brought against Schlangen in Stearns County included operating without a food handler's license, storing eggs at temperatures above the mandated 45 degrees, distributing adulterated or misbranded food, violating a food embargo, and selling custom processed meat. Alvin faced up to $5,000 in fines and up to 15 months in jail.
During the trial, the prosecution spent the first day calling witnesses, including the state veterinarian, who testified about different foodborne illnesses to associate Schlangen with a foodborne illness, yet the state did not present a shred of evidence that food delivered by Schlangen has ever made anyone sick.
Attorney Nathan Hansen represented Schlangen with the support of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Sentenced only on the charge of handling food without a license, Schlangen was fined $1,000 ($700 of the fine was suspended) and given a 90-day jail term which was also suspended with one year on probation; if he violates probation, he will be sent to jail and be required to pay the balance of $700 in fines.
Pete Kennedy, attorney and president of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund said, quote, "It's a sad day when a hard-working farmer who has dedicated his life to feeding his community quality food and benefited the health of hundreds of families is judged to be a criminal. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture did not have this case brought against Alvin to protect the public health; the department's purpose was to get control over the private distribution of food, denying Minnesota residents their right to obtain the food of their choice from the source of their choice."
This tactic used to be called Double Jeopardy and the 5th amendment to the US constitution strictly forbids it, stating that no person shall be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb. Apparently, except when you’ve embarrassed the state. Then it just drags you into court on the same charges in a different county and calls that a new violation. A sincere note to all liberty activists: If you want to live free, I don’t recommend living outside of New Hampshire. There were only 12 people in attendance to support Schlangen. New Hampshire has thousands of activists who are working to achieve liberty in our lifetime. I’m not saying it would be a slam dunk, but this trial would have gone differently in New Hampshire. To learn more about why if you love liberty, you should move to New Hampshire, visit http://FreeStateProject.org
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Darryl W Perry wrote a terrific article at Daily Anarchist (dot) com in which he proposes that in a free society, it may be possible to serve the sentence of another party. It is currently legal to pay a fine on behalf of another person. He proposes that it should be just as legal to serve the sentence of another person. In this way, Bradley Manning could be free in as little as a few months, with a 90-year sentence spread across hundreds of people.
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