Daily Signal: The name of a Navy veteran may be cleared after he was convicted, fined, and imprisoned for digging ponds in a wooded area near his Montana home, to supply water in case of fire.
The Supreme Court has vacated a lower court ruling against Joe Robertson, who was sent to federal prison and ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution through deductions from his Social Security checks.
Any definitive legal victory for Robertson would be posthumous, since he died March 18 at age 80.
But his lawyers describe the Supreme Court’s action as a “big win” for Robertson’s widow, Carrie, who plans to carry on the fight.
President Barack Obama’s Justice Department had prosecuted Robertson for digging in “navigable waters” without a permit, in violation of the Clean Water Act.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling against Robertson in November 2017 and denied him a rehearing in July 2018.
The Navy veteran’s initial trial at the district court level resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial. He then was convicted after a second district court trial.
Robertson was 78 when he was sentenced in 2016; he completed his 18 months behind bars in late 2017. At the time of his death, he was supposed to be on parole for another 20 months. more here
His death won’t be enough for the Enviro-Nazis of the EPA and “justice” department. He must be dropped down a “memory hole” and his existence extinguished from all photographs and documents.
Since when is a pond a “navigable” water?
We were warned of this many years ago and failed to eliminate the threat.
Whether or not President Trump is re-elected, he cannot maintain the Presidency for ever – and the statist totalitarians are lurking in the shadows, waiting in the wings, and lying their ways into office.
The longer we hesitate, the more difficult it is to get them out – think “ticks.”
izlamo delenda est …
We better start prosecuting beavers for damming navigable waters.
I want Obama in prison.
I used to joke about my bird-bath now being regulated by the EPA. I left it when I sold my house. Let the new owner get in trouble if he moves it! Hahahahaha
“Hi! We’re from the federal government! We’re better and more moral than you. We’re here to reduce you to serf status – or kill you. Whichever is easier…”
There’s no such thing as private property as far as the left sees it, except their own of course. These overbearing pricks will force compliance or you’ll face the wrath of the government and it’s massive penal system.
THIS
.SH!T
..HAS
…GOT
….TO
…..STOP!!!
Death by a thousand paper cuts.
Quit digging ponds. Start digging graves.
I don’t understand why illegals crossing the Rio Grande are not charged with violating the Clean Waters Act???
Can we build the gallows yet?
I call dibs on pulling the lever!