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| Popular opposition to proposed massive factory farm in central Wisconsin faces corrupt state Supreme Court. Photo by Mary Captain-Braund |
Appellate law and vested property rights concern families in central Wisconsin
Update: Examination of the updated Wisconsin Supreme Court website (PDF) indicates the court will hear Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga.The Court website reads in part: "Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga - When a permit applicant secures vested rights by filing a valid building permit application for a project (Wisconsin's "Building Permit Rule"), does the law protect the applicant's right to both construct buildings and to use the project land in the lawful manner described in the building permit application?"
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Madison, Wisconsin — In central Wisconsin a fearful, hope-and-see mood describes families awaiting the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to grant or deny review of a state appellate court April ruling, Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga.
Residents want the April state appellate decision to stand because the ruling restricts a massive factory farm from beginning operations under a radical, new conception of corporate vested property rights
The communities' future depends on the high Court decision as the predictable consequences of operation of the proposed Golden Sands factory farm are the pollution and depletion of water and air, devastating parts of four counties in this region, if it began operation.
The Golden Sands Dairy LLC appellate ruling effectively kills the operation of the massive factory farm by disallowing use of a 4,660-acre manure dumping field on which millions of gallons of liquid cow waste would be vectored every year.
The Supreme Court decision on the Golden Sands-Wysocki corporation's petition for review, a legal request of a court to hear a case, is expected around October 12, some six months after the April appellate ruling's date.
The appellate ruling freezes construction plans of the dairy Golden Sands CAFO, Confined Agricultural Feeding Operation, by honoring the current legal delineation of vested property rights.
[Note: For updates the case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court is 2015AP001258. Enter 15ap1258 in the Appeal Number field, leave the rest of fields blank and hit search at bottom-left of the linked Wisconsin Supreme Court page.]
Republican Altering of Health, Safety and Environmental Protection
It's an indication how corrupt Wisconsin government is under Republican rule that residents contacted in Wood and Adams counties believe Republicans on the Wisconsin Supreme Court will vote to hear the Golden Sands Wysocki petition, overturn the appellate decision and radically expand the vested rights of property owners to commit virtually any environmentally and economically destructive act, altering the capacity of local communities to protect their economic and environmental well-being and the safety of families against corporate actors.
Since 2011 Republicans have implemented an unprecedented statutory framework according property rights supremacy over any other competing rights, including public interest concerns.
Notes David Strifling at the Marquette University Law School:
In 2016, the Wisconsin Legislature [enacted] Wis. Stat. § 227.57(11). The statute provides that a 'court shall accord no deference to the agency’s interpretation of law if the agency action or decision restricts the property owner’s free use of the property owner’s property.'
Though to this point Republicans have worked to change the nature of corporations' property rights vis a vis the public interest function of state agencies, the Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga case accords the Republican-dominated Supreme Court a way to expand corporate property rights over the health and safety claims of neighbors and communities.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Corporate interests, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau and Wisconsin Realtors Association, have filed Amicus, (Friend of the Court), briefs in support of the Court hearing the Golden Sands-Wysocki petition.
Republican Supreme Court members protect corporate interests, and for years have refused to recuse themselves in cases in which the justices' political campaigns have benefited from heavy spending by litigants, (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign), (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign).
Some central Wisconsin residents contacted believe that because the remaining credibility of the Wisconsin Supreme Court as an independent judicial body is at stake, the Court may not overturn the well-grounded April state appellate decision.
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| Proposed Golden Sands factory farm in central Wisconsin could turn rural paradise into industrial wasteland. Don Ystad of Adams County Wisconsin who has been promoting tourism and recreation for writes: "Take a step back from the politics of this situation and ask yourself, 'what is best for the state of Wisconsin? Another CAFO sited, or the preservation and growth of an existing, vibrant area, poised to be the 'golf mecca of the Midwest?' Unfortunately, the Wysocki CAFO has the political support of local State Rep. Scott Krug, (R-Nekoosa, Wisconsin) and State Sen. Patrick Testin, (R-Stevens Point). These politocs have already chosen Big Ag over everything else, including the Sand Valley Golf Resort. |
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