The “Vindictive” Aftermath of the Vernon Hershberger Trial

Last month, Wisconsin farmer Vernon Hershberger was acquitted on 3 of 4 charges related to the sales of raw milk and raw milk products. On Friday, state officials filed a motion to revoke Hershberger’s bail, claiming he violated bail conditions.

As part of his bail conditions set in 2012, Hershberger was barred from selling dairy products until obtaining the proper licenses. Friday’s motion cites a newspaper article that quoted Hershberger as saying that he continued to sell raw milk and other products to his buyers’ club after the state ordered him to stop in June 2010.

Hershberger was acquitted of 3 charges of producing and selling dairy without proper state licenses, but was found guilty of violating the holding order. This meant that Hershberger was required to continue to adhere to his original bail conditions. Hershberger’s attorney, Glenn Reynolds, expressed disappointment in the state’s motion to revoke bail of a father of 10, who was almost entirely found innocent in his recent trail.

“It seems vindictive in my view,” Reynolds said. “He goes to trial and wins and now they want to put him in jail? What is the point of this sort of motion?”

The court heard the motion on Monday, June 3rd, and the  judge decided to wait until the sentencing hearing.

For more information: http://wislawjournal.com/2013/06/02/state-seeks-to-revoke-raw-milk-farmers-bail/

See the press release issued by Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund: http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/news_wp/?p=9673

The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the Weston A. Price Foundation.