(5) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume foods of their choice - Judge Patrick J. Fiedler, Circuit Court, Branch 8, State of Wisconsin
I’ve seen a bunch of hand wringing and outrage over this since it popped up, but why? Here’s the actual judgment. As near as I can tell, he’s spot on and just telling the truth about the matter. The five page decision also included these other unequivocal pronouncements:
(1) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;
(2) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;
(3) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farmer;
(4) no, the Zinniker Plaintiffs’ private contract does not fall outside the scope of the State’s police power;
…
(6) no, the DATCP did not act in an ultra vires manner because it had jurisdiction to regulate the Zinniker Plaintiffs’ conduct.
Seems simple and clear enough to me. We long, long ago — probably not long after the ink had dried on the Declaration of Independence – got over the silly idea that there is any such thing as “unalienable rights;” and of course, the US Constitution, by including a “Bill of Rights,” forever set in stone the principle that the State is the grantor and the final arbiter of any notion of “rights.”
“Rights” are what the various levels of government say they are, nothing more. Not anymore. And even if the judge were deemed to be wrong and later overturned, that would only be on his interpretation of existing laws.
Judge Fielder is just being honest with y’all. I suggest you move along, citizen. There’s nothing to see here.