Hudson Family Giving Thanks
Hudson Family Farm finally wins in court after three years of persecution
- UPDATE – Apr 11, 2013 – Study To Explore Ag Law Clinic – Delmarvanow
- UPDATE – Mar 22, 2013 – State Supported Farm Terrorism – My Eastern Shore
- UPDATE – Feb 26, 2013 – Inside The Hudson Family Farm Case – Video
- UPDATE – Feb 7, 2012 – Hudson Family Farm Still Fighting For Fees – Balt Sun
- UPDATE – Jan 23, 2013 – No Appeal Of Hudson Family Farm Case – DelMarVa
- UPDATE – Jan 8, 2013 – Hudson Family Farm To Sue For Attorney Fees – Capital
- UPDATE – Jan 4, 2013 – Teachable Moment Crops Up In Pollution Lawsuit – Gazette
- UPDATE – Dec 28, 2012 – Ruling Discredits UM Law Clinics Involvement – Balt Sun
Yesterday a federal judge ruled in favor of the Hudson Family Farm in a controversial case that has been debated in court and in the media for several years. On the one side is David, the Eastern Shore family farmners and their two children trying to make a living raising chickens, and on other side, Goliath, the self righteous New York based environmentalists with the help of the the University of Maryland Law School.
Goliath lost. Goliath’s persecution of the Hudson family farm while ignoring the facts of the case for the greater good of the protection of mother earth was insulting and repugnant to almost everyone who took the time to learn the facts. The situation was best described by the President of the National Chicken Council, Mike Brown, who said “Today’s ruling is a win for Delmarva’s family farmers and against radical environmental activists who disregard the facts, sue first and ask questions later.”
Bitterly contested, U.S. District Court Judge William M. Nickerson ruled, after a two week trial in October, that the Waterkeeper Alliance failed to prove that the Hudson family farm’s chicken houses were polluting a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.
The judge criticized environmentalists that helped bring the lawsuit. He wrote that the Waterkeeper group was trying to use the litigation to force poultry companies to alter or abandon their operations on the Eastern Shore, the judge said he “observed in her testimony and her conduct a certain ‘ends justifies the means’ approach, where truth can be ‘spun’ to achieve a desired goal.”
The Hudson Family Farm raised chickens under contract with Perdue Farms who summed up the case in the Baltimore Sun: “Perdue and the Hudsons were convenient targets in the Waterkeeper Alliance’s national campaign against modern agriculture,” Perdue spokeswoman Julie DeYoung said in a statement. “The Assateague Coastal Trust and University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic were enthusiastic partners in this reckless witch-hunt against Maryland farmers,” she added.
In addition, the fact that this frivolous case was taxpayer subsidized throught the University of Maryland made the lawsuit even more egregous. The law school which through its clinics professes to help the little people teamed up with an out-of-state organization against a Maryland family. How absurd! For its role the law school has received great criticism throughout the state, including many legislators and the governor.
The attorney for the Hudsons is considering asking the court to require the environmental groups to pay the Hudsons’ legal fees, which I believe is entirely appropriate in this case.
Click For More Information On The Persecution Of The Hudson Family Farm
Dear Delegate McConkey,
On behalf of the Maryland Farm Bureau, thank you for posting this article. Below is a statement from Savefarmfamilies.org.
SaveFarmFamilies.org end of trial statement:
“All along we’ve said that this lawsuit threatens family farms across the country, and the trial revealed the true agenda of the groups and of the individuals involved in the case – to use trumped up pollution charges to attack poultry farms. We believe it’s clear that the Waterkeeper Alliance, the Assateague Coastal Trust and the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic did not prove their case. They have continuously changed their story to find some reason to vilify a hardworking farm family just because they raise chickens. The best they could come up with is that dust from the poultry house fans and the small amount of litter from foot traffic in and out of the poultry house constitute a violation of the Clean Water Act.
To add insult to injury, two of three lawyers at the plaintiff’s table the past three weeks have been Maryland state employees. The Waterkeepers’ use of the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic as a tool in its publicly announced “hard-nosed litigation” tactics against a Maryland citizen and Maryland corporation is, as Governor O’Malley has already stated, an “injustice.”
The farming community looks forward to a favorable ruling and an opportunity for the Hudson family to see their lives return to normal.”