The Indiana legislature, the same group that recently passed a “right to work for less” law, is now turning its attention to aiding industrial hog farmers. The Indiana House last week passed a bill on a 57-39 vote to force people who file “frivolous” lawsuits against agricultural operations to pay the legal costs of the defendants.
Indiana law already allows judges to impose such fees in cases of frivolous lawsuits. In the past decade not a single lawsuit involving large scale agriculture has been ruled frivolous, so why the need for the bill?
Kim Ferraro, the water-policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council, discussed the bill in the Feb. 25 issue of Lancaster Farming, “The idea is to intimidate, to make somebody be worried that they’re going to be on the hook for paying for a defendant’s attorney fees and costs. It’s a chilling effect.”
By the way, Pennsylvania already has a law protecting farmers for normal agricultural operations. If I spread horse manure on my garden, my next door neighbor can’t sue me for the smell. (Horse manure doesn’t really smell anyway, but you get the idea.) On the other hand, if I keep 1000 hogs in tiny pens, that might not be a “normal” agricultural operation.
Cooper tire update
Cooper Tire Company has reached a tentative settlement with its employees. I thank the readers who supported the strike. You can buy Cooper Tires with a clear conscience, but once again, public pressure had an effect. Nice work.
No comments:
Post a Comment