On April 10 and 11, dairy farmers Ethan Wentworth of York County and Rusty Herr of Lancaster County were arrested and jailed in their county prisons. They are still in jail.
The arrests were made without a court hearing or trial or an option to post bail. What did they do to be sentenced to 30 days in jail? They ran a company called NoBull Solutions that uses a portable ultrasound machine to check on pregnant cows for dairy farmers that don’t already have one – like the Amish farmers in Lancaster and York Counties who shy away from all electronics, automobiles and ultrasound machines.
Is this another phase of Pennsylvania’s vendetta against Amish farmers?
Brook Duer, a lawyer with the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, made statements to the media in an effort to tamp down the outcry. He said there have been numerous complaints against NoBull Solutions for practicing veterinary care without a license. But he didn’t mention those complaints were filed by the Veterinary Board four years ago! Fines were imposed and paid. NoBull Solutions modified their practice and went back to work. No new complaint was brought forth before the two dairy farmers were arrested and hauled off to jail.
“There was plenty of due process here.” Was there? Or were Wentworth and Herr railroaded into prison? A report in the truth-telling Canada Free Press by Milt Harris on 5 May tells us what the lawyer for the two farmers, Robert Barnes, says about due process.
“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.
“Our 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. If Ethan or Rusty searched for the case against them, they would have found nothing. Why would the state hide the case in this way if they really wanted our clients to engage and resolve the case? It gives the appearance that the intent was to secretly establish an excuse to arrest them and shut down NoBull Solutions without due process."
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