Tag Archives: Legal

Going Ape

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Study suggests environment may impact apes’ ability to understand declarative communication

[Watch the sudden pulse of human activity be commingled with that of the animal kingdom as we go down the slippery slope of the legal status between animals and humans]

March 15, 2010 When we notice somebody pointing at something, we automatically look in the direction of the gesture. In humans, the ability to understand this type of gesturing (known as declarative communication) may seem to be an automatic response, but it is actually a sign of sophisticated communication behavior. Numerous studies have tried to determine if great apes (for example, chimpanzees and bonobos) are able to understand declarative communication, but results have been mixed.

Quarantine! Your Legal Toolkit for Understanding the Quarantine Process

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Legal Toolkit for Public Health Professionals

Thanks to NACCHO for their contribution in helping to create this resource.

A Primer on Public Health Law

Public health officials have broad authority to ensure a safe and orderly community.  State laws tend to be broad and do not set forth, in detail, specific criteria on how or when public health officials can or should issue orders.  There is very limited guidance on the how long an order should be in place, the process for issuing orders and for the legal enforcement of orders.  Nor is there guidance on legal recourse or the implementation of orders or the legal process should health officials face non compliant citizens.

Wisconsin state laws give local health officers great latitude in keeping the public healthy.  With this latitude comes a loss of freedom and privacy.  Justification for this loss of freedom and privacy stems from the notion that people’s actions can have a devastating effect on the overall health and well-being of a community and that quick action is vital if public health officials hope to contain the spread of communicable diseases. It is also understood that personal freedom is not an absolute right.

About this Toolkit

The most commonly referenced containment measures applied on an individual level are isolation and quarantine.  The Public Health Seattle and King County website offers a comprehensive tool for public health agencies seeking to implement and enforce isolation and quarantine orders.  Continue reading →

Legal Beagles: US Citizens, Who are You?

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For citizens and farmers in the trenches as well as consumers in the shopping aisle it is critical that we understand who we are and how we fit into our historical form of government as well as the current regime.

From the trenches,

Celeste

CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES EXAMINED

Authored by LB Bork lb@pacinlaw.org

FORWARD

As some people may understand who have been in the freedom movement, there has been a long-term debate on the term citizen of the United States.

This article is of purpose to expand on the various types of citizenship that are present in the union that is named The United States of America. When you set out to read the contents herein, you will undoubtedly note that the term citizen is used in somewhat of a vague manner. It is ventured that there is a specified purpose for this measure.

AMERICAN CITIZEN

To set the premise on this infamous term in question citizen of the United States”we should first ascertain what a citizen is in affiliation to American law. In regard, see this common definition from the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia:

Citizenship. Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now usually a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen.

To further explain what the term citizen means in American law, look at the following definition that was of the period prior to the so-called Civil War:

Persons. This word is applied to men, women and children, who are called natural persons. In law, man and person are not exactly synonymous terms. Any human being is a man, whether he be a member of society or not, whatever may be the rank he holds, or whatever may be his age, sex, etc. A person is a man considered according to the rank he holds in society, with all the rights to which the place he holds entitles him, and the duties which it imposes.

Persons are also divided into citizens (q.v.), and aliens (q.v.), when viewed with regard to their political rights. Bouviers Law Dictionary, 1856

Hence, a man or woman  is considered a human being, however they are not deemed a person unless they are a member of a society, i.e. a body politic or nation.

1  In the Law of Nations by Emer de Vattel, Vattel set-up that a man was a citizen of a country. As a rule, a citizen is subject to the laws of a municipality. What the premise of Vattel did is set-up the legal fiction that people are citizens of a country instead of being members of a nation or nationals of any such country; this making them subject to the State.

2 ALIEN. Owing political allegiance to another country or government; foreign. alien residents. An un-naturalized foreign resident of a country; also called non-citizen. American Heritage

Title 8 USC  1101(a)(3). Definitions. As used in this chapter – [chapter 12 of Title 8]. The term alien means any person not a citizen or national of the United States.

3 SOCIETY. A society is a number of persons united together by mutual consent, in order to deliberate, determine, and act jointly for some common purpose. 2. Societies are either incorporated and known to the law, or unincorporated, of which the law does not generally take notice. 3. By civil society is usually understood a state, (q.v.) a nation, (q.v.) or a body politic. Bouviers Law Dictionary, 1856 Continue reading →

You are entering the ‘Remote Sensing and Space Twilight Zone’

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An Agricultural Census Statistician once boldly, and with much enthusiasm, told a NoNAIS’er back in 2005 that in order to track down every single ‘farmer’  in America that the government was utilizing aerial methods.  While the statistician did not go into more detail regarding the ‘aerial surveillance’ it certainly did not take a rocket scientist to figure out that with all the satellites, planes, and drones in the sky, surveillance of this type was a common, every-day occurrence.

The WSDA promptly proclaimed “Not true!”,  “We do not have satellites!”  While semantically that was true, they do “not have satellite’s”, they do use information collected from satellites within their Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and their USDA mother-ship.

Space Imagery and Remote Sensing Becomes Legal Evidence & Taxable!

Looking for work?  There is a booming business in Remote Sensing and Space law currently.  Just a little blip from the Space-Based Law Initiative:

“Addressing the growing need for objective and timely space and aviation law in areas that include: deployment and operation of satellites, commercial infrastructure [that includes agriculture], data policies, intellectual property; privacy, liability, international law, use of imagery as legal evidence, environmental issues, and licensing.”  [emphasis mine]

Just click this link and in the search area type: agriculture.What you will discover is the long-time plan to tax all carbon, and everything else that can possibly be imaged on your farm, straight into the pockets of banksters and whoever else shares the farming ‘pot of gold’.

10 Minute Citizen: What can I say?  Anyone got ideas on how to fight this one?

From the trenches……

Constitutional No Trespassing Sign

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You can purchase a set of Constitutional No Trespassing Signs for $30 here.  Log Home Builders Association came up with this idea and we want to support them for this valuable service.  www.nonaiswa.org is for informational purposes only, we sell no products.

 

 

 

NO TRESPASSING

INCLUDING ALL PUBLIC OFFICIALS
OR AGENTS THEREOF:

This is to put you on notice that the Owner or Tenant of this property requires that all Public Officials abide by the provisions of the Supreme Law of the Land

THE CONSTITUTION

of the

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Bill of Rights

Amendment Two:“the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed”

Amendment Four:“the right of the people to be secure in their person, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated:

ANY OFFICER OF PERSON WITHOUT CONSENT OF THE OWNER OR TENANT WHO ATTEMPTS TO ENTER THIS PROPERTY WITHOUT A PROPER WARRANT AS DESCRIBED BELOW WILL BE TREATED AS ANY OTHER INTRUDER WOULD ATTEMPTING TO TRESPASS, EXTORT, INJURE, OPPRESS, THREATEN, INTIMIDATE, OR IN ANY OTHER WAY JEOPARDIZE THE RIGHTS OF THE OWNERS OR TENANTS OF THIS PROPERTY

THE UNDERSIGNED WILL THEREFORE REFUSE TO PERMIT ANY SEARCH, AUDIT ASSESSMENT, OR INSPECTION WHATSOEVER OF THIS PROPERTY WITHOUT THE PRESENTATION OF A PROPER WARRANT DULY SIGNED AS DESCRIBED BY CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IV

“AND NO WARRANT SHALL ISSUE BUT UPON PROBABLE CAUSE SUPPORTED BY OATH OR AFFIRMATION AND PARTICULARLY DESCRIBING THE PLACE TO BE SEARCHED AND THE PERSON OR THINGS TO BE SEIZED”

VIOLATORS MAY NOT BE FINED MORE THAN $10,000 OR IMPRISONED NOT MORE THAN TEN YEARS OR BOTH USC TITLE 18 SEC 241 & 242

SIGNED___________________________________________

Dated:_________________________

 

 

 

 

WARNING! Private Property

Persons entering this property must hold contract or license with the owner granting ingress with indemnity and carry on-person proper identification to verify such contract or license.

 

NO TRESPASSING

 

You are hereby notified that the owner of this property requires all public officials, agents, or person(s) to abide by the “supreme law of the land”. The Constitution for the Untied States of America and ratified Amendments thereto.

 

Owner will refuse to permit and hereby refuses to permit any access, search, audit, assessment, or inspection whatsoever without the presentation of a warrant prepared as prescribed by Constitutional Amendment IV and XVI and ‘particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.” Alleged zoning or code non-compliance do not establish Constitutional reasons for entering this property. Violators will be trespassers will be treated as intruders.

 

VIOLATORS TAKE NOTICE

 

Any official, agent, or person(s) entering this property without the consent or the owner without proper warrant as described above, will be treated as an invasive species and disease vector.

As an intruder attempting to trespass, extort, injure, threaten, harass, intimidate or otherwise jeopardize the rights of the life of the Owner of this property.

 

Violators will be fined according to the amount allowed by law.


 

NO TRESPASSING!

 

THE CONSTITUTION


of the

 

State of Washington

SECTION 3 PERSONAL RIGHTS. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

 

ARTICLE 1, SECTION 7- 9A.52.080: Criminal trespass in the second degree

SECTION 7 INVASION OF PRIVATE AFFAIRS OR HOME PROHIBITED. No person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law.

 

SECTION 13 HABEAS CORPUS. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless in case of rebellion or invasion the public safety requires it.

SECTION 14 EXCESSIVE BAIL, FINES AND PUNISHMENTS. Excessive bail shall not be required, excessive fines imposed, nor cruel punishment inflicted.


 

WA Voluntary NAIS Participation Bills are UP! We need your help

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Washington State Voluntary NAIS has been introduced:

House and Senate

Six Steps to Farming Freedom

Status Report

Accompanying Documentation

“This is fantastic news,” said one Washington NoNAIS person upon hearing that House Bill (HB) 2086 was read this morning and assigned to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, and also that Senate Bill (SB) 5956 was read this morning and introduced to the Senate Agricultural and Rural Economic Development Committee at 10:30 this morning.

A team of three hit the Capital last Monday representing three impacted sectors: a Realtor, a livestock auctioneer, and a public relations manager. This team of three also represented the following species: bovine, horses, goats and poultry. With great enthusiasm and support on Friday proposed legislation regarding, “Voluntary participation in the National Animal Identification System”, known as NAIS, went into play in the Senate and the House.

Representative Shelly Short sponsored HB 2086.

Senator Mark Schoesler sponsored SB 5956.

(Please take time to thank these Legislator’s)

Both bills are located on the www.nonaiswa.org website. The proposed legislation language is identical, and is commonly referred to as Companion Bill set.

February 20th is our cutoff date for both HB 2086 and SB 5956. The Agricultural Committee Chairs must decide to hold a public hearing and move HB 2086 and SB 5956 by February 20th or the bill(s) die in committee.

The chairman of the Senate Ag Committee is Senator Brian Hatfield:

Email: hatfield.brian@leg.wa.gov

Phone: (360) 786-7636

The chair of the House Ag Committee is Representative Brian Blake.

Email: blake.brian@leg.wa.gov

Phone: (360) 786-7870

We Need Your Help!

NOW is the time we need your help! The team of three spent the entire last week in Olympia ~ 5 days ~ meeting with our representatives, educating, asking for support, asking for sponsors of these bills.  NOW IT IS UP TO YOU…

Proposed Legislation, HB 2086 & SB 5956 Status

HB 2086 and SB 5956 are new fresh new bills with new prime sponsors and new supporters. It is important to note that HB 2086 is not HB 1151. Due to the tremendous emotion and lack of unity unfortunately HB 1151 became a bad memory for many and so it was necessary to bring a squeaky clean and fresh bill with a unified support base to our Representatives and Senators. Continue reading →

Backgrounder: Legalities of Animal Identification (NAIS)

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From the Arkansas Agriculture Law School

Animal
Identification


Overview

An animal
identification system traces the whereabouts and movement of certain animals.
While government officials and private industry had been working on the issue
prior to the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in late 2003, USDA
announced that it would expedite its efforts in the wake of the discovery. On
April 27, 2004 Secretary Veneman announced a framework for the implementation of
the system called the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) that was
developed with the collaboration of USDA, private industry, and state animal
health officials and is largely based on earlier work done with the United
States Animal Identification Plan. The plan will eventually encompass all
livestock and poultry in the United States. The NAIS will provide
information on the whereabouts of animals from their original birthplace to the
slaughter plant. It does not include tracing the meat through the plant to the
consumer. Although not currently mandatory, the goal of the NAIS is to be able
to trace all livestock and poultry within 48 hours of a certain event such as a
disease outbreak. Read the full overview

Note: Recently added
resources are posted at the top of the applicable
sections.

Major
Statutes

The Animal Health Protection Act, 7 U.S.C.
§§ 8301- 8317

Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. §§
552

Uniform
Commercial Code, Article 2 – Sales

Regulations

Regulations Pertaining to the Movement of
Livestock, 9 C.F.R. pts. 71 to 85

Federal Register Rules Open for
Comment

Center published Federal Register
Digest

Case
Law

Note: Recently summarized
cases are listed and linked in Recent Postings.

Case Law Index for Animal
Identification

Center
Research Publications

Approaching Liability with Animal
Identification (Pendergrass, 2007)

A Comparison of International Animal Identification
Programs (Pendergrass, 2007)

Varying State Approaches to Confidentiality with Premises and
Animal Identification Systems
(Pendergrass,
2007)

State Identification Statutes: Confidentiality Provisions Relating
to Animal and Premises Identification
(Pendergrass,
2007)

Animal Identification and the Next Farm
Bill (O’Brien, 2006)

Legal Issues in Developing a Plan for Animal
Identification (Roberts and Pittman,
2004)

Animal
Identification: Liability Exposure and Risk Management
(Roberts and O’Brien, 2004)

Animal
Identification: Confidentiality of Information (Roberts
and O’Brien, 2004)

Congressional Research Service
Reports

CRS Subject(s):
Animal
Agriculture

Reference Resources

USDA
Resources

National Animal Identification System, USER
Guide (USDA)

Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

Animal Identification (APHIS Veterinary
Services)

Food
Safety Research: A Focus on Animal Identification Pilot
Program (National Agricultural Library -
NAL, Food
Safety Research Information Office – FSRIO)

Pathogen Detection and Monitoring: Animal Electronic
ID (NAL, FSRIO)

Food Safety Links: Product Tracing (NAL Foodborne Illiness Center)

Other Congressional
Resources

Development of a
National Animal Identification Plan (U.S. House
Agriculture Committee
Hearings, March 5, July 22, and August 17, 2004)

Development
of a National Animal Identification Plan
(U.S. Senate Agriculture
Subcommittee
Hearing, March 4, 2004)

GAO
Reports on Animal Identification

Additional
Resources

Western Extension
Marketing Committee, Livestock Marketing Information
Center

Iowa Beef
Center (IA St. U.)

National Institute for Animal
Agriculture

United States Animal Health
Association

Canadian
Cattle Identification Agency

National
Animal Identification System (American Veterinary Medical
Association – AVMA)

First International Conference on Animal Identification & Traceability

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The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is not about food safety.  It is about food control. The NAIS scheme does not address American agricultural issues but is a contrived United Nations ‘tool’ for redistribution of agricultural assets.

http://www.oie.int/eng/traceability-2009/first.html

First OIE International Conference

Animal Identification and Traceability AKA: «From Farm to Fork»

Buenos Aires (Argentina), 17-19 March 2009

The OIE is pleased to announce the First OIE International Conference on Animal Identification and Traceability, which will take place in Buenos Aires (Argentina) with the kind agreement of the National Food Safety and Quality Service of Argentina (SENASA) and the Secretary of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Argentina. The purpose of the Conference is to support the implementation of the relevant international standards for identification and traceability in live animals and animal products globally. The Conference will feature presentations from speakers representing international organizations, national Veterinary Services, agencies involved in animal products, the private sector (producers, processors, distributors and industry), consumer organizations and providers of technology and services relevant to animal identification and traceability.

The benefits of identification and traceability for animal health, disease control, food safety and quality including labeling, genetic selection and control over trade will be discussed. The experiences and perspectives of countries and sectors that have implemented animal identification and traceability will be presented and practical examples used to explain how the international standards can be implemented in a cost effective manner in consultation with stakeholders.

The objectives that the Conference will aim to achieve in the various sequential sessions are as follow:

·

·Raise international awareness of the relevant international standards published by the OIE and the Codex Alimentarius Commission

·

·Give practical information and technical advice on how to implement these standards in different industry sectors and national contexts

·

·Review the latest experiences in public and private identification and traceability programs with reference to the relevant international standards

·

·Provide practical advice and examples to help national Veterinary Services and other agencies to play their appropriate role in regard to animal identification and traceability

·Identify the kind of support that can be provided by international organizations and donors to Veterinary Services and interested parties operating in developing countries, as appropriate to their needs, as regards the implementation of the OIE and Codex standards

·Launch a discussion on the future needs for international standards

·

·Discuss priorities and propose approaches to research and development relevant to animal identification and traceability.

·

Approximately 500 participants are expected to attend, including:

OIE National Delegates and other national government representatives

Representatives of international standard-setting and economic development organizations

Representatives of the private sector (producers, processors, distributors and industry) and agencies that are involved in animal identification and traceability

Multinational food companies.

The Conference will take place over 3 days, comprising keynote speakers and Ministerial Statements on day 1, technical presentations on days 1, 2 and 3 and a panel discussion and the Conference Resolutions on day 3.

The Conference proceedings will be published, and a copy will be provided to each registered participant.

Judiciary: A Texas Pandemic Benchbook

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This 125 page document is the benchbook for the judiciary who will be evaluating isolation, quarantine and other controversial issues surrounding the legal aspects of the pandemic influenza.

Judiciary: A Texas Benchbook Continue reading →