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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The Socialist Grapes (and Raisins) of Wrath


Taking his crops without payment.
Raisin farmer Marvin Horne stands in a field of grapevines planted in 1918 next to his home
in Kerman, Calif. Horne says farmers like him need to sell everything to make a living, and
the USDA forces farmers to give away part of their crops for the "common good".

Court Backs the 5th Amendment

  • The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the government can't force raisin farmers to give up part of their annual crop for less than it's worth, a victory for conservative groups that hailed the decision as a win for private property rights.  The justices ruled 8-1 that a 1940s-era program born out of the Great Depression is unconstitutional because it allows federal officials to seize personal property from farmers without fully compensating them.  (Fox News)


Editor:  Here is part of my November 24, 2012 from The Federalist Blog


Dissident raisin farmers from California’s San Joaquin Valley and their ideological allies will get a shot at attacking a federal farm program, under a case that the U.S. Supreme Court accepted Tuesday.

Bucking the odds, Fresno-area farmers Marvin and Laura Horne succeeded in convincing the high court to hear their challenge to Federal controls on the raisin industry. Though the legal questions are complicated, the real-world stakes add up.
 
“This is a classic David and Goliath confrontation, where the government comes after these small orchardists and farmers,” attorney Michael McConnell, who’s representing the Hornes, said. “The fact that the court is taking this case is really indicative that they care about the little guy.”


The Socialist Grapes of Wrath

The raisin marketing order requires “handlers” who process and pack raisins to place part of their product in reserve, with the industry-run Raisin Administrative Committee deciding how much they’re to be paid for this set-aside tonnage. Raisin handlers set aside 47 percent of their crop during the 2002-03 season and 30 percent for 2003-04, but they were paid for only part of what they surrendered.

A Stanford Law School professor and former federal appellate judge, McConnell has joined with attorney Brian Leighton as a longtime skeptic of marketing orders and research and promotion programs. The programs differ, but they often compel private action in several ways. Promotion programs can force individual growers to pay fees for common advertising, while marketing orders can limit individual production and set quality standards.
 
In prior cases involving the likes of beef and San Joaquin Valley tree fruit, dissidents fell short of convincing the Supreme Court to strike down mandatory promotion fees as a violation of the First Amendment. Similar fights have continued in various state courts.

The Agriculture Department subsequently ordered the Hornes and their coalition to pay more than $650,000 in fees and penalties.

Read the full article . . . .


A Serf bows to his Lord.
In the old days Serfs served as tax slaves, working the land and forced to turn over the wealth they produced to their Lords and Masters in Government in return for "protection". 
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The Supreme Court stopped American farmers being forced against their will by their Masters in government to turn over part of their production.  They had to turn it over or have a team of scumbag Federal lawyers up their asses and massive Federal fines levied on their farms.
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The Court voted for FREEDOM.

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