Today in a San Jose Federal Courtroom, Judge Ware
dismissed the Edna Williams et al. vs. USDA, CDFA et al. case.
It is very
unfortunate that this has happened. As we have stated before, today's hearing
was solely for the purpose of showing the judge why this case should be heard
in the federal court system – "subject matter jurisdiction". Today’s hearing had
nothing to do with evidence relating to health, safety or environmental issues.
The Judge needed and wanted to hear only why this case should be before him in
a federal court rather than in a state court.
After hearing the Defense
and several Plaintiffs speak, the judge was evidently not convinced that the Federal
Court had jurisdiction in this matter. However, we disagree. Unfortunately, not
a strong enough argument was made to show the USDA's involvement in these spray
operations. The USDA is a federal agency and is listed as a Defendant in this
case, including Helene Wright in her federal job capacity. Because of the USDA's
orders and international trade concerns, the CDFA is conducting the spray operations.
Santa Cruz County and the CDFA have been threatened by the USDA that if these
spray operations do not continue, the Federal Government will come in and do what
they deem to be necessary, including conducting their own spray operations and
placing a quarantine on the entire state. Even if a State Court is successful
in stopping the CDFA from spraying, it would take a Federal Court to stop the
USDA from following through with their threats. It was nicely presented to Judge
Ware how the aerial spraying violates our constitutional rights, but that was
only part of establishing federal jurisdiction.
That all being said, there
was a great turnout at the courthouse today by concerned citizens and a lot of
effort has gone into this case. It is an incredible accomplishment in how the
community organized so quickly and got the case heard in a Federal Court. Everyone
should feel proud as to what they were able to accomplish in that short amount
of time. It takes most groups or organizations years to be able to accomplish
what was accomplished in just a few short weeks here. You all deserve a big round
of applause!
There are still three pending lawsuits in progress in the
local State Courts. This fight is not over!!
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