From Liberty Matters:
U.S. District Court Judge Orders ~~~
Suspension of NAIS!
On June 4, 2008, the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, ordered the Department of Agriculture to suspend its plan to identify and document every animal in the U.S.
The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was to have been fully implemented by June 9, 2009. It is now on hold indefinitely.
The ruling came as a result of a lawsuit; Mary-Louise Zanoni v. United States Department of Agriculture. Ms. Zanoni, an upstate New York attorney has been a vocal and persistent leader in the fight against the NAIS that opponents believe would lead to more government regulation and less personal freedom.
NAIS was never legitimized by Congress. USDA just proceeded to shove it down an unwilling public’s throat.
Several state cattlemen’s associations have also accused USDA of “registering premises without the consent of the owners, helping themselves to states’ agriculture databases and harassing young 4-H kids. These groups have formally requested leaders of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to stop NAIS and hold oversight hearings on USDA’s movements.
The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund filed suit July 14, 2008, in the same federal district court (with the same judge presiding that suspended NAIS in June) to stop USDA and the Michigan Department of Agriculture to cease and desist any further implementation of NAIS.
The suit also charges USDA has never published NAIS rules, a violation of the Federal Administrative Procedures Act, has never performed an Environmental Impact Statement or Assessment and is in violation of religious freedoms guaranteed by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Increasingly, federal and state bureaucracies are blatantly trying to force unpalatable programs on citizens without bothering to follow the laws. This victory should be a reminder to the higher-ups that this is a nation of citizens, not subjects.
