A legal case in Pennsylvania has caused widespread anger both online and elsewhere due to the outcome it imposed: Two farmers were arrested and sent to jail for 30-day sentences without a sentencing hearing or the possibility of bail.
Officials explain that this is the standard procedure for contempt charges, which led to Ethan Wentworth from Airville, York County, and Rusty Herr from Christiana, Lancaster County, being incarcerated since last month.
According to WPMT in Harrisburg, the government’s grievance revolves around their business, NoBull Solutions, which provides assistance to dairy farmers in managing the reproduction of their cattle.
Here’s a video podcast, by Yanasa TV, explaining the conflict:
Their lawyer, Robert Barnes, charges, “This is the craziest thing I’ve every seen.”
The dispute arose from accusations that the two individuals were conducting veterinary procedures without proper licensing, specifically performing ultrasound tests on cattle. This practice is commonly utilized by farmers for various purposes.
Following these allegations, the state of Pennsylvania launched an investigation and ordered the individuals to provide their records. However, they did not comply with this demand, leading to contempt orders being issued against them.
According to state court officials, there is no provision for bail in cases of contempt, and no formal sentencing process is necessary. Suspects are simply arrested and incarcerated.
Subsequently, arrest warrants were issued by a judge for the individuals, who were then imprisoned in their respective counties as per the court orders that were recently enforced.
A critic of the two say there was ample due process, but Barnes issued a statement:
This is an unlawful civil contempt order. There are certain procedures that must be followed in a civil contempt action and to our knowledge those were not followed here. Even if they had been followed, the maximum allowable punishment is 15 days in jail which must be conditional, with keys to your own jail cell – meaning there is a condition you can meet to immediately end your incarceration. None of that is true in this case.
The state claims this is a punishment for not complying with a subpoena to turn over documents, but an agency can’t just order anyone to turn over any document they please. For a subpoena to be valid, the jurisdictional validity of the subpoena must be established, and it has not been in this case. Both men had sought the advice of an attorney regarding the case and had been told that the Veterinary Medical Board had no jurisdiction over them, that the subpoena was therefore invalid, and that there was nothing Ethan and Rusty needed to do.
There is no evidence that Ethan or Rusty ever saw the order the state claims to have mailed to them last August which threatened them with arrest if they did not comply. Ethan and Rusty were unaware that this was a possibility. It was a complete shock to them and to their families when they were arrested.
He explained his clients were “denied the ability to see the case against them or NoBull Solutions because the state had the docket sealed and hidden – a highly unusual move.”
He said, “It gives the appearance that the intent was to secretly establish an excuse to arrest them and shut down NoBull Solutions without due process.”
He stated that he was seeking an emergency motion to overturn the imprisonment order and have them incarcerated in their own counties, following the recent execution of warrants.
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