As legal experts were predicting, the appellant attorney for Austin “Jack” DeCoster and Peter DeCoster got a deadline extension in his quest to obtain another review of the pair’s sentences in a case about the 2010 Salmonella outbreak linked to their eggs. Attorney Peter Keisler of the Washington D.C. firm
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8th Circuit approves jail sentences for egg men
When he sentenced a father and son to three months each, the federal judge in a criminal trial about an egg-related Salmonella outbreak said he was imposing the jail time unless someone could tell him federal law specifically prohibited him from doing so. 
With a 2-1 vote made public Wednesday,
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Judges grill both sides in DeCosters’ egg sentence appeal
Two of three judges hearing appeals of the jail sentences handed down to Austin “Jack” DeCoster and Peter DeCoster sounded uncomfortable yesterday with the concept of sending corporate officials to prison for a so-called strict liability case. Lawyers were left arguing whether “this case is that case” or whether, as
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The age factor in sentencing for food safety crimes
For all the notoriety around criminal prosecutions over food safety, age is a factor that has not received much notice until now. Take 74-year old William B. Aossey, for example. He is the Halal food exporter convicted of switching out USDA establishment numbers to fulfill orders from facilities not approved
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Food Safety’s Criminal State of Mind
As Food Safety News editor Dan Flynn has reported, lawyers for Austin “Jack” DeCoster and Peter DeCoster, owners and operators of Quality Egg, have recruited some heavy hitters in their ongoing battle to avoid prison time. Despite pleading guilty to the felony of bribing a public official to approve shipment
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Food Safety Misdemeanors Might Require Showing ‘Guilty State of Mind’
One option the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has pursued since at least 2010 in criminal prosecutions of corporations and officers is to bring charges that do not require proof that defendants were in a criminal state of mind. However, it’s an option that may be ending soon. FDA’s
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Publisher’s Platform: Time for More Criminal Prosecutions in Food Poisoning Cases?
It has been a busy past several weeks for public health investigators (and lawyers) and uncomfortable (and sometimes deadly) for food poisoning victims, as well as for the management of several companies. Here are just a few of the outbreaks hitting the news: 
Salmonella Cucumbers: As of Nov. 18, 2015,
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Letter From the Editor: Can Strict Liability Crime Mean Jail Time?
Here are a couple of legal concepts to get your head around before we continue: The Park Doctrine: Also known as the “Responsible Corporate Officer (RCO) Doctrine,” it allows a corporate officer, who in a position to prevent or correct a violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA)
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Written Arguments Submitted in DeCoster Appeal of Jail Time
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis has received the final reply brief filed on behalf of Austin (Jack) DeCoster and his son, Peter DeCoster, by their legal team led by Peter D. Keisler. Keisler and his colleagues from the prominent Washington, D.C., law firm
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Government Wants to be Able to Jail Egg Executives for Food Safety Violations
Just after the federal government put a former food industry CEO in prison for the longest term ever handed down for a food safety-related crime, a top official in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed arguments to make jail time for such executives more routine. Benjamin C. Mizer,
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