Federal judges so far haven’t been willing to share any of their enviable security blanket with animal agriculture.
But that might change if a strategy out of Iowa is successful. It was as recently as January that senior federal district court Judge James E. Gritzner ruled Iowa’s first “ag-gag”
Continue Reading An 8th Circuit strategy is behind Iowa’s ‘ag-gag’ 2.0
A federal judge has decided not to toss out a lawsuit about the constitutionality of Iowa’s 6-year-old “agricultural production facility fraud” statute, meaning the issue will very likely go to trial next year.
Federal District Court Judge James E. Gritzner, in a 38-page opinion, on Feb. 27 denied the crux
Continue Reading Activists’ case on constitutionality of ‘ag-gag’ law advances
I can hear a bit of silence in the board rooms of America.
Monday the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeals of Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son, Peter DeCoster, without comment.
In April 2015 U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett sentenced the DeCosters to prison, saying they knew
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: Supreme Court weighs in without a word
Government attorneys who just days ago were on the verge of sending Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter DeCoster to federal prison have now agreed the egg men should remain free long enough to allow the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. 
On behalf of the DeCosters, Peter
Continue Reading DOJ is OK with Supreme Court review of DeCoster sentences
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wants the government to have sufficient time to respond before it decides whether to grant a rehearing on the jail sentences for 82-year-old Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his 53-year-old son Peter DeCoster, the egg men implicated in a nationwide Salmonella outbreak in 2010.
Continue Reading Government gets extra time to respond on DeCosters’ rehearing
A federal appeals court decision that upheld jail sentences for two men whose eggs caused a huge Salmonella outbreak is in conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Park Doctrine, every prior decision applying the doctrine, and every prior appellate opinion on whether Due Process allows prison sentences for vicarious liability
Continue Reading DeCoster attorney requests rehearing on sentences for egg men
For the first time since the U.S. Department of Justice increased filing criminal charges for food safety violations, it may get its wings clipped just a bit by a challenge to district court jurisdiction in some limited instances. At issue is a jurisdictional question being raised on appeal that could
Continue Reading Appeal could put Secretary of Agriculture in courthouse door
