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CLARK CO. RULING DOESN'T EXCLUDE OTHER AMISH FROM PREMISES ID
Friday, August 20th, 2010 -- 11:03 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
Just because a Clark County judge ruled in favor of one Amish farmer's plea to be excluded from the state's premises identification law for religious reasons doesn't mean others who share the same beliefs are allowed to break the law. That's according to Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Spokesperson Donna Gilson. She told Wisconsin Ag Connection that even though her agency is not appealing the March 2010 ruling by Circuit Court Judge Jon Counsell to exempt Emanuel Miller Jr. of Loyal from registering his property with the state, does not mean others are free to do the same. "Since this was a county circuit court ruling, it does not grant a blanket exemption for all Amish farmers," said Gilson, who explained that it would be different if the verdict came from the appeals court level. "The decision applies only to that one farmer. We're still evaluating how to proceed from here, but right now Amish farmers who keep livestock are still bound by the premises registration equirement." Gilson was responding to a story on Wisconsin Ag Connection last week in which Clark County District Attorney Darwin Zwieg told a Neillsville radio station that officials with the DATCP decided not to pursue an appeal of Judge Counsell's ruling that the premise ID law infringed on the Amish farmer's religious beliefs. "Basically, a ruling on the circuit court level applies to just the case(s) at hand," Gilson said. "If similar cases are prosecuted by other circuit court judges, the outcome from county to county could vary." Gilson says her agency will now step back and spend its time and resources on deciding how to proceed, rather than appeal the specific court case involving Miller.
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