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By Jerri Cook
Countryside Staff

Do you know what a strict liability law is? If you're a homesteader, you
should, because not knowing could lead to your arrest and
imprisonment, especially if you sell soap, produce, crafts, cheese, or
operate a CSA, herdshare, or buying club. The number of federal,
state, and municipal strict liability laws is growing exponentially as
more and more people, unable to find work in the private sector, turn
to the government for employment.

Strict liability laws, unlike other criminal statutes, don't require any
intent, or fault, on your part. It doesn't matter if you didn't mean to
break the law. It doesn't matter if you never even heard of the law
you're accused of breaking. The prosecutor doesn't have to prove you
had intent. They only have to prove you committed the banned act.

Not only do you not have to be aware of the strict liability statute,
neither does the government. In fact, there are so many federal strict
liability laws that not even the FBI knows for sure how many there are.
Columbia law professor John Coffee estimates that there are at least
300,000 strict liability laws that the FBI can use to prosecute citizens,
and they use them every chance they get. Not included in Professor
Coffee's estimate are state and municipal strict liability laws, which
when added to the federal strict liability laws, could reach over a
million.

Lavrentiy Beria, the chief of Stalin's murderous secret police once

said, "Show me the man, and I'll find you the crime." If he were alive
today, Mr. Beria would love America's strict liability laws. With
hundreds of thousands to choose from, he could throw a rock and hit
one that would send a political enemy or dissident to the gulag for a
long time.

In their book One Nation Under Arrest: How Crazy Laws, Rogue
Prosecutors, and Activist Judges Threaten Your Liberty, Brian Walsh
and Hans von Spakovsky lay out the disturbing trend of abuse by
government employees and the devastating effect it has on American
families. The book details the cruel and unjust punishment dealt out to Walnut Creek
Lawyer
ordinary citizens, with no previous criminal record, for violating federal Neal Kuvara for a
strict liability laws that no one except government bureaucrats have Free Evaluation
ever heard of. That's because these laws aren't passed by the state or Millions in
federal legislature; they are enacted by government employees. settlements 40 yrs
exp
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Doing time

George Norris is a gardener with a passion for orchids. He's been Experienced
importing non-hybrid orchids since 1977 when he quit his construction Attorneys
Accused of a
job to pursue his passion fulltime. He did well, and by the 1990s his Criminal Offense?
orchid importing business was pulling in over $200,000 a year. He and (800) 862-7677 for
his wife, Kathy, travelled the world, meeting others who shared Consultation.
George's passion for the exotic plants. The people they met quickly www.LawyerCross.net

became like family, and the Norris's became well-known and beloved
members of the orchid-trading community.
Expert Criminal
George and Kathy became close with one family from Peru, whom Lawyers
they had met on an orchid-hunting trip—Manuel Arias Silva and his Payment Plans
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family. Manuel's sons, Juan and Manolo, were badly burned in a fire Now at (510) 965
when they were toddlers. George and Kathy Norris took the boys into 7339, 24/7/365.
their care and arranged for a plastic surgeon at Baylor College of www.ToCross.com/Cri

Medicine and the facility there to donate their services to reconstruct

the boys' mangled hands and scarred faces.
California Law
Firm
The boys spent the better part of a year with George and Kathy from Specializing In
1993-1994. So, how did a man with a heart as big as George Norris's Defective Products
wind up doing 18 months of hard time in a federal penitentiary? He For 33 Years W/
violated a strict liability law that neither he, nor the other orchid 98.6% Success
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importer, knew existed. www.MichaelSilvers.c

The raid

On October 28, 2003 at 10:00 in the morning, three black pick-up

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trucks pulled into the Norris's driveway. Six federal agents, clad in
Arrest Warrant
black body armor and armed with automatic weapons surrounded the
Criminal Law
home. They were inside in less than 10 seconds.
Search Warrant
State Laws
The lead agent told George they were executing a search warrant, but
wouldn't say for what. They ordered George to sit at his kitchen table
while they ransacked the home, pulling out dresser drawers, including
Kathy Norris's underwear drawer. "I don't know why they would want
to know what kind of underwear I had," Kathy says.

After the house was trashed, one of the agents handed George a copy
of the search warrant, but wouldn't allow him to get his reading
glasses so he could see what it said. One of the agents read him his
Miranda rights, and then told him he wasn't being charged with
anything just yet, nor was he under arrest.

They searched his greenhouse, asking which orchids he grew and

which were collected from the wild. They confiscated all of his mail,
financial records (including his personal checkbook), his computer,
family photo albums, and just about everything else that wasn't nailed
down, leaving George with a receipt for 37 boxes of his property.
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To make matters worse, Kathy had called home to talk to George - $59.99
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When they were finally able to collect their wits long enough to read
the warrant, they found a copy of an email that an Ecuadorian orchid
trader had sent to George and several other orchid growers. The man
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had offered to have his mother "smuggle" orchids into the U.S. in her A law practice
suitcase. George had replied that he wouldn't accept any plants that dedicated to estate
weren't accompanied by the required legal documents. He would later planning & wealth
produce the email, believing it would exonerate him. It didn't. preservation.
www.wealthPLAN.com

The sting
Wrongful
A few weeks before the raid, a new customer contacted George. He Termination?
wanted to order some high-priced orchids. The customer specifically Experienced -
requested that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Millions
Species (CITES) paperwork be included with the order. It was an Recovered! Free
Consultation-Call
unusual request. Because the USDA takes possession of the 888-914-6900
paperwork at the port of entry, unless the shipping broker makes a www.carterlawfirm.net
copy, the customer doesn't get one. Norris rarely received the
paperwork with the plants, nor did any dealer in the U.S.
Probate Law
Chalking the whole thing up to the misunderstanding of a novice Estate Planning
grower, Norris ordered the plants from his South American supplier and Administration
and shipped them to the customer. A few days after receiving the Trusts, Will,
plants, the customer emailed George and again asked about the Powers of Attorney
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paperwork.

George explained to him that the USDA had the paperwork, and the
customer should contact them to get a copy.

The customer placed another order for orchids a few months later,
again asking for the paperwork. Once again, George shipped the
plants, explaining that the USDA took the permits at the time of entry
into the country, and the only way to get a copy was to contact them
directly. He thought that was the end of it.

Unknown to Norris, the buyer in these transactions was a Fish and

Wildlife Service agent. Because of the growing popularity of exotic
orchids, the government had taken an interest in the plants. The two
transactions were all they needed for the raid. What law did Norris
break? He followed the USDA's regulations to the letter. However, the
Fish and Wildlife Service has their own set of strict liability laws. Just
because you follow the rules of one government agency, it doesn't let
you off the hook as far as other government agencies are concerned.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has a law that requires the original
documents that the USDA takes at the port of entry be shipped with
the plants to the customer, even though the documents are already in
the possession of another government agency which doesn't require
brokers to keep a copy. Busted.
After spending their life's savings on George's defense, the Norris's
were broke. Two years, and nearly a half-million dollars later, George
gave up and pleaded guilty, hoping he would only get probation.
Instead, the 68-year-old got 18-months of hard time; over two-months
of that was served in solitary confinement, all because he violated a
government regulation that no one had ever heard of.

Breaking the law

Are you breaking a law? David Gumpert, the author of The Raw Milk
Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights
(Chelsea Green, 2009), warns producers and consumers alike that the
growing bureaucracy threatens to make criminals out of anyone who
unknowingly runs afoul of the thousands of strict liability food laws—
like Pennsylvania farmer Dan Allyger, whose home was raided by
agents at 5:00 in the morning on April 20, 2010. What was the crime
he was suspected of committing? According to the FDA's Philadelphia
office, Allyger was," [...] causing to be delivered into interstate
commerce, selling or otherwise distributing raw milk in final package
form for human consumption, such distribution is a violation of the
Public Health Service (PHS) Act, Title 42 United States Code, Section
264(a), and the implementing regulation codified in Title 21, Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 1240.61(a)." That's right, the
FDA, a federal agency, is now getting in on the raw milk ban.
Apparently, individual states haven't been tough enough, and the
USDA has no federal law banning the sale of raw milk, so now the
FDA has to step in and prevent consumers from obtaining raw milk.

In June of 2010, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture,

accompanied by armed agents, raided the Traditional Foods
Warehouse, seizing contraband (food) and shutting them down. The
store, a private food club specializing in locally-produced foods, was
wildly popular among Minneapolis consumers. But, they didn't comply
with some regulation written by some government bureaucrat.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture also raided the home of an

individual who had allowed a farmer to park in his driveway. The
farmer then sold raw milk to one of the homeowner's neighbors. The
agents showed up, dressed to the teeth in combat gear, and
confiscated the homeowner's computers, personal records, and
scores of other property, even though the homeowner didn't buy or
consume any of the contraband.

Sharon Palmer, who runs a CSA in Ventura County, California, has

been raided three times in the last two years. The latest raid,
compliments of the Los Angeles County Sheriff, Ventura County
Sheriff, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture, lasted
for five hours. They took the milk she feeds her chickens. They took all
of her computers, including her 12-year-old daughter's school
computer. Why? Apparently the labels on her handmade artisan goat
cheese aren't approved by the State, so the Los Angeles District
Attorney issued an open-ended warrant for her farm.

Never heard of an open-ended warrant? Neither has attorney Peter

Kennedy, Esq., President of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense
Fund (FCLDF). "What's going on in California is over the top," he
explains. "They're supposed to get a new one each time, not just keep
coming back on an 18-month-old warrant. This is just dangerous
precedent, and farmers and consumers need to be worried. It's going
to get worse."

The FCLDF offers some tips to homesteaders who make a living from
their land. When presented with a warrant or approached by an official
of any agency:

 You have the right to receive a copy of the warrant.

 It is your right to stay silent, and you give up your rights when
you answer.
 It is your right to ask any non-related permit oversight official to
leave immediately, and they are required to do so unless they
carry a warrant to carry out specific duties and only those
specifically and clearly outlined in the warrant.
 It is your right to video tape and record the events.
 It is your right to have family, neighbors, customers be witnesses
as long as you and they do not interfere in any way with the
search warrant.
 You have the right to receive an "inventory" of anything that is
seized.
 Read the warrant!
 Call the Fund lawyer before the search begins. 1-800-867-5891
(24/7)
 Present the Public Official Questionnaire (available at
www.farmtoconsumer.org/farm-raids.html) and request that it be
filled out and signed by all official persons present, for your
records.
 Monitor where the search is conducted. Tell them to stop if they
are entering areas outside of the warrant specifications.
 Monitor how the search is conducted. For instance, if the use of
force is not called for in the search warrant, no force can be used
to cut off locks or break down doors.

Learn more about the increasing number of farm raids and how to
protect yourself at www.farmtoconsumer.org.

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

David Gumpert advises small-scale farmers and homesteaders to

prepare for a raid in the same manner you would prepare for severe
weather events or a fire. "Decide in advance who will handle the video
camera, who will collect business cards or take down the names of all
agents, and who will interact with the regulators. The regulators and
police count on the element of surprise to sow confusion, and keep
the targets from responding intelligently."

Merle Dech, prominent Ohio criminal defense attorney and Fox News
commentator adds, "If they come in with guns drawn, don't reach for a
camera or anything else. They'll tell you to get on the ground with your
hands behind your head, or something similar. Do it. You don't want to
get killed over food."
Merle also has some tips for sniffing out sting operations like the ones
that snagged George Norris and the others. "Beware of people you
don't know. Never sell anything to someone you haven't dealt with for
years, and then be careful. The police will try to make two buys. One
might not be enough to convict you, so they'll do it twice." That's
exactly what happened to George Norris and the others, and it's
exactly what someone tried to do to me.

A while back, I received a phone call from a nice, older man who
wanted to know if he could buy some raw milk from us. Curious, I
asked him how he got our number. He replied, "Oh, I saw it in an
advertisement in the local paper last summer." That's interesting,
because the number he called on was only 10-days old. I had just had
it installed in my home office so COUNTRYSIDE'S managing editor
could get a hold of me without the hassle of calling my home phone.

I thanked the gentleman for thinking of us, but declined to sell any
milk, citing the law against it in Wisconsin. I decided not to tell him that
there was no way he saw the number in the paper months before.

The same gentleman called again a few weeks later, again wanting to
buy raw milk. When I again declined, he asked if he could get a
Tupperware container of manure for his wife's garden. This time I
wasn't so nice, telling him that unless one of us was a lawyer, the
conversation was over. I promptly hung up. I'm not sure whose list I'm
on, but I'm fairly certain I'm at the top of it.

Merle is an old friend from back in my college days. As we continued

our conversation about the increasing number of criminal food laws,
he chuckled. "C'mon Jer, are we really talking about food?"

"Yes, we are really talking about food."

"This is ridiculous," he said. "Here's what you need to know. When the
cops come storming in, the first thing they'll look for is records,
anything that can tie you and anyone else to the residence. They'll go
through your file cabinets, your underwear drawer and any place else
they think you might have records. They'll seize your computers. Keep
a backup up of your records on a separate hard drive."

Like Peter Kennedy, Merle admonishes people to keep quiet during a

raid, "Don't tell them anything. They'll yell at you, threaten you with all
sorts of consequences if you don't talk, and out-and-out lie to you.
Keep your mouth shut. They'll also separate people. Don't panic, and
don't talk. It's just what they do."

A dozen eggs, a pound of butter, and a lawyer

As government agencies increase in size, they compete for funding.

One way to ensure an agency's survival is for its members to produce
results, and seizing a boat load of food in an early morning raid on a
family farm is just the sort of result that pays off.

Everyone agrees—the more people the government hires, the more

regulations they will create and enforce. Farmers are an easy target.
Even those who jump through all the regulatory hoops aren't safe, and
there is no way for any one person to know about every single
regulation that might affect them. The only thing we can do is stand on
principle, and hope the jack-booted thugs don't take a shot at us. If
you haven't already done so, visit the FCLDF's website and learn how
to protect yourself. It couldn't hurt to contact a couple of local
attorneys to see who might be able to advise you in case you find
yourself staring down the barrel of an automatic weapon while trying to
milk your cows.

I leave you with this thought from C.S. Lewis: [A] tyranny sincerely
exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It
would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent
moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep;
his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us
for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the
approval of their own conscience.

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