Authorities claim there’s no need for sentencing hearing, bail option
A state legal action in Pennsylvania is sparking outrage, online and elsewhere, for the result it demanded: Two farmers arrested and jailed on 30-day sentences with no sentencing hearing and no option for bail.
Authorities say that’s the process they use for contempt charges, for which Ethan Wentworth of Airville, York County, and Rusty Herr of Christiana, Lancaster County, have been serving time since last month.
Broadcast outlet WPMT in Harrisburg reported the government’s complaint concerns their company, NoBull Solutions, which offers to help dairy farmers with their reproductive management of cattle.
Their lawyer, Robert Barnes, charges, “This is the craziest thing I’ve every seen.”
The fight apparently stems from allegations the two were practicing veterinary medicine without a license for running ultrasound test on cattle, a procedure that is common for farmers to use for various reasons.
The result was an investigation by the state of Pennsylvania, where officials demanded that the two turn over their records.
They failed to do what state officials demanded, and the report notes that resulted in contempt orders against the men.
The state’s court officials told the broadcast outlet that there is no option for bail, and no “sentencing hearing” required for contempt charges. Authorities simply arrest the suspects and jail them, the report said.
Eventually, a judge signed arrest warrants for the two, as well as orders to jail them in their respective counties, warrants that just recently were executed.
Hellbound and Down 