In August a Federal District court ruling made planting GMO Sugar Beets
illegal (See story in the August 20 Seed Piece
<http://woodprairiefarm.commercev3.com/lettercast/b_lc.php?c=AiAIe-I_OU> ).
Barely one month later in September, the USDA attempted to circumvent that
August court ruling via the ruse of issuing GMO Sugar Beet steckling (plant)
planting permits. In response to that bald defiant action, Organic Seed
Alliance, its allies, and the Center for Food Safety and Earth Justice filed
suit in Federal District Court (See story in the September 19 Seed Piece
<http://woodprairiefarm.commercev3.com/lettercast/b_lc.php?c=AiAae-I_OU> )
seeking to stop the USDA and their partner, biotech giant Monsanto.
New Ruling
A landmark Court ruling was handed down last Tuesday November 30. The
organic community was given an unequivocal solid victory when Federal
District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White ruled that the USDA had acted
illegally in their permitting scheme. In a sharply worded rebuke Judge White
issued a preliminary injunction and ordered the immediate destruction of 256
acres of gene-spliced RR Sugar Beet stecklings.
Court Order Excerpts
In breathtaking manor here are some scathing excerpts from Judge
White's Tuesday Court Order:
"To the extent Defendants [USDA-APHIS] and Intervenor-Defendants
[Monsanto] contend that they would suffer any harm, it is only of their own
doing. Due to their preemptive conduct, the stecklings have been planted
pursuant to the permits at issue and they have created a significant risk of
environmental harm....The likely environmental harm established by
Plaintiffs [Organic Seed Alliance] is irreparable....In light of Plaintiffs'
strong showing of likely irreparable harm and Defendants' and
Intervenor-Defendants' weak showing of harm, the balance of equities tips
sharply in favor of the Plaintiffs....the Court finds that the harm of which
Defendants and Defendant-Intervenors now complain was caused by the Court's
prior orders and their own delay....The Court further finds that neither
Defendants nor Intervenor-Defendants have any cause to claim surprise as a
result of any injunction....the Court finds that the balance of hardships
between the parties and the public interest tips sharply in favor of the
Plaintiffs and in favor of issuing an injunction....to the extent the
requested injunction is a mandatory injunction, Defendants and
Intervenor-Defendants created this problem...Based on the record currently
before the Court, the legality of Defendants' conduct does not even appear
to be a close question. It appears clear that Defendants and
Intervenor-Defendants were merely seeking to avoid the impact of the Court's
prior order in Sugar Beets I....the Court....HEREBY ORDERS that the
stecklings planted pursuant to the permits issued by the Defendants shall be
removed from the ground."
Seminal Victory
Center for Food Safety Senior Staff Attorney George Kimbrell said,
"today's court decision is a seminal victory for farmers and the environment
and a vindication of the rule of law. The public interest has prevailed over
USDA's repeated efforts to implement the unlawful demands of the biotech
industry."
Click here for more background on the
<http://woodprairiefarm.commercev3.com/lettercast/b_lc.php?c=AiA_e-I_OU>
court ruling from CFS.
In related news, today, Friday December 3, Monsanto said it will appeal
the Federal Court decision.
Jeanne
<http://community.webshots.com/user/atasetofcreole>
http://community.webshots.com/user/atasetofcreole
<http://atasteofcreole.wordpress.com/> http://atasteofcreole.wordpress.com/
"When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not
far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is
that it WILL make it possible to go elsewhere." - R. Heinlein
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