Agricutural Law Headlines: Debts, Quarantine Breakers, and Obama Anticompetition Workshops

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

Making headlines these week in agricultural law - a produce company closes in Philadelphia with nearly half a million in debt; canker-infected trees almost make it out of a quarantined area of Florida; and Obama to focus on anticompetition activities in early 2010 workshops.

M&C of Philadelphia Closes Owing Six Figures

As of November 13, M&C had 6 pending Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act complaints for its nearly half a million owed to growers, shippers and distributors after closing its doors on November 2nd. The complaints are still in their very early stages, but the proprietors show little sign of cooperation - although they did agree to allow suppliers’ lawyers to review the books and figure out what happened.

Canker-Infected Orange Trees Make For the Fence

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services arrested two nursery owners after they transported more than 500 canker-infected orange trees outside of a quarantined area. They are charged with knowingly trying to sell infected plants. Mike Sparks, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Lakeland-based Florida Citrus Mutual said “With our certified nurseries and certified stock, we have a very aggressive statutory-mandated compliance procedure. It is a direct violation of existing rules and protocols. When we get a USDA or state fresh fruit rule, how do we justify the protocols with our brothers in California and Texas? You just can’t let such incidents like this one happen.”

Obama Focusing on Anticompetition in Agriculture

The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have announced a series of workshops scheduled to begin in early 2010 regarding the mechanics of competition in agricultural markets, including buyer power and vertical integration. Some workshops are expected to be in Washington DC, with others in areas closer to where production begins.

Tags: anticompetition, antitrust, canker, debt, Obama, produce, quarantine
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Overseas Detainees Still Being Mirandized

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Some detainees that were captured and held abroad are still being read Miranda rights in order to preserve evidence for potential prosecution. Obama administration officials said that Bush administration also did this in some instances related to certain criminal cases.

Although the actual Miranda rights differ depending on the state, they would adhere to court ruling that “prior to investigation, the people in custody must be informed of their rights to remain silent and anything that they say may be used against them in court. They must also be clearly informed that they have the right to consult attorneys and to have those attorneys present during questioning. Also, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent them if they are indigents.”

Rep. Peter Hoeskstra (R-Mich), House Intelligence Committee’s ranking Republican, expressed his concern about this news. “The last thing we want is to let the al-Qaeda terrorists remain silent. We should be focused on knowing and preventing the next attack. We can’t give these radical jihadists new tactics they could use to resist interrogation,” he said.

In March, President Obama was interviewed by 60 Minutes and he said “the whole Guantanamo premise promoted by Cheney (Vice President) was that the American justice system is somehow not equipped to deal with these terrorists. I disagree with that. So do you think these folks deserve to be treated the same way as a shoplifter in the neighborhood block? Of course not.”

Tags: al-Qaeda, attorney, attorneys, Criminal, detainees, Miranda rights, Obama, Peter Hoekstra, rights, terrorists
Posted in Criminal, Criminal News | No Comments »

Immigration Laws Overhaul may be delayed

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

Overhauling U.S. immigration laws may be postponed for another year because of the deteriorating economy. Advocates, lobbyists, and lawmakers on both sides agree that this is the highest unemployment rate in 25 years. Therefore, it would be difficult for President Obama to push a legislation to make a new guest-worker program and legalize millions of immigrants.

This month, Robert Gibbs (White House Spokesman) said that Obama will soon introduce plans to overhaul immigration. This is a legislative priority for major companies such as Western Union Co., the biggest money-transfer business in the world; Marriott International Inc., a big hotel chain; and Intel Corp., a huge chipmaker company.

Senator Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican who opposed the immigration legislation considered in 2007, said “The debate has changed. The American people will not be happy about this, so I don’t think it will be a pleasant discussion.”

Last week in Mexico City, Obama said “I remain committed in fixing the broken immigration system.” Although the senate committee announced commencement of hearings next week, one senior White House adviser, David Axelrod, said that the president may have committed to begin discussions this year but whether it will be completed within the year is another story.

Tags: David Axelrod, Intel, Jeff Sessions, Marriott, Obama, Robert Gibbs, U.S. Immigration laws, Western Union
Posted in Immigration | No Comments »