Raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt on “Lawyer or no Lawyer” at the Rights Workshop in Wisconsin on March 1st

Backstage at the Herschberger trial

From David E. Gumpert, on the Complete Patient blog:

“I didn’t fully appreciate while I was sitting in court waiting for Vernon Hershberger’s hearing to begin Friday afternoon in Baraboo, WI, that the delay was due to some important negotiations taking place outside the courtroom.

It was over whether Hershberger’s son, Andrew, could videotape the proceedings. I was aware there was a problem when I went out briefly into the hallway, and Andrew asked me whether I might be able to video the proceedings, since I was a media representative, and was sitting in a special media section up front. I agreed, though suggested it would be preferable if he came in and actually did it, since he knew much better how to use the camera. He said he had been told he couldn’t go in. The court officers present indicated when I was there that they had to inquire with higher ups as to whether he could come in and videotape. Andrew told me he would stick his head in and let me know when a decision came back. 

Why anti-authoritarians are diagnosed as being mentally ill in America today

From Bruce Levine, Mad in America:

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“In my career as a psychologist, I have talked with hundreds of people previously diagnosed by other professionals with oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, anxiety disorder and other psychiatric illnesses, and I am struck by (1) how many of those diagnosed are essentially anti-authoritarians, and (2) how those professionals who have diagnosed them are not.

Dateline BARABOO: More raw milk and Vernon Herschberger news

From Alicia Abercrombie, in the Reedburg Times Press:

“BARABOO — Braving the increasingly blowing snow, more than 150 supporters of raw-milk farming gathered outside the Sauk County Courthouse on Friday as part of a two-day rally to support a Loganville dairy farmer charged with selling food and dairy products without a license.

The supporters traveled from as far away as Maryland and Canada to speak on the behalf of Vernon Hershberger, saying the ability to buy and drink raw (unpasteurized) milk is a constitutional right.

“We want the government to decriminalize raw milk,” supporter Liz Reitzig said. “My two older daughters are allergic to pasteurized milk but fine with raw.