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Nebraska Farmers Union |
1305
Plum Street • Lincoln, NE 68502 Contact
John Hansen Office: 402-476-8815, Fax: 402-476-8859, Cell: 402-580-8815 |
Nebraska Farmers Union Continues Defense of I-300
402-476-8815 Office
402-580-8815 Cell
ST. LOUIS, MO. Nebraska Farmers Union President John K. Hansen and Farmers Union member Wayne Frost of Wolbach, were present in the Thomas F. Eagleton Courthouse in the heart of St. Louis to hear oral arguments before the Eighth Circuit Court critical to the future of Nebraska’s corporate farming ban known as I-300.
The three Judge Eighth Circuit Court panel heard the Nebraska Attorney
General’s appeal of the December 2005 U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska
summary judgment ruling by Judge Laurie Smith Camp in the Jim Jones, et al. v. John Gale, etc., et al
lawsuit. Opposing sides each had thirty
minutes to present their oral arguments and answer questions. Katie Spohn of the Attorney General’s Agriculture,
Environment and Natural Resources Section presented the oral arguments on
behalf of the State of Nebraska.
The three Judge panel included Judge
Arnold from Arkansas, Judge Bye from North Dakota, and Judge Melloy from
Iowa. Judge Arnold was a member of the
three Judge panel that ruled against South Dakota’s Amendment E corporate
farming ban August 19, 2003.
The Jim Jones, et al. v. John Gale,
et al lawsuit challenges Nebraska’s Constitutional ban on corporate farming
commonly known as I-300, which was the ballot number the Secretary of State
assigned to the citizen’s initiative sponsored by Nebraska Farmers Union in
1982. Voters placed I-300 in the
Nebraska Constitution, Article XII, Section 8, with 56% voter approval in the
1982 General Election.
John K. Hansen, President of the Nebraska Farmers Union noted that nearly 60 state and national organizations as well as various state Attorney Generals have signed on to one of the numerous Amicus or Friend of the Court briefs in support of Nebraska’s Constitutional provisions limiting corporate farming and effectively banning meat packers from feeding livestock.
Hansen, President of Nebraska Farmers Union and one of the original drafters of I-300 in 1982 said, “Given the proposed Smithfield buyout of Premium Standard Farms, striking down the ability of states to compensate for the complete federal failure to deal with non-competitive agricultural markets would make an already intolerably bad situation dramatically worse. Our Constitutional provision is the most effective ban on packer feeding in the country.
It prevents the meat packers from using their own livestock to manipulate and depress domestic cash market prices available to independent farmers and ranchers. Since Nebraska is the top red meat producing and processing state in the nation, losing our corporate farming ban would have major negative state, regional, and national impacts on what is left of cash markets,” Hansen said.
Lincoln attorney Jeff Kirkpatrick, legal counsel for Nebraska Farmers Union, said “I am confident that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will reverse the lower court ruling. There is no legal or factual basis for the District Court’s holding that Article XII, Section 8 of the Nebraska Constitution discriminates against non-Nebraska corporations.” Kirkpatrick noted that the Constitutionality of the corporate farming ban has already been upheld by the Eighth Circuit Court and the Nebraska Supreme Court in prior cases. “In the end we believe the Eight Circuit Court will recognize that the public policy goals of protecting the environment and promoting the economic vitality of rural communities are legitimate state interests and that the basic tenets of federalism demand a basic level of respect for the action taken by the voters of Nebraska.”
Hansen complimented the energy and resources that the Attorney General’s office has devoted to defending the State’s Constitution. “This is a vitally important case and we appreciate the time, dedication, and ability that State’s lawyers have devoted to the defense of the State’s Constitution. They recognize that the anti-corporate amendment is a valuable tool in protecting Nebraska’s resources. We appreciate their hard work.”
Wayne Frost, a farmer from Wolbach, said, “It is just too bad that the plaintiffs in this case let themselves be used by the very meat packers who are trying to put them out of business. Every time we follow the money trail on these lawsuits against I-300 we find meat packers or someone tied to the meat packers’ money in the pockets of farmers and ranchers who let their names be used as plaintiffs. If the plaintiffs are proud of what they are doing, why don’t they come forward and tell us who is really paying for the legal costs of this lawsuit?”
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www.nebraskafarmersunion.org