Five-Year Court Battle Upholds Indiana’s Right to Farm Act and Allows Farming Operations to Continue
Chris Braun and Jonathan Emenhiser, on behalf of Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP, are pleased to report that precedent-setting litigation involving Indiana’s Right To Farm Act in the case of Himsel et al., v. 4/9 Livestock et al. has now been successfully concluded. Our clients, defendants Co-Alliance, Sam, Cory and Clint Himsel and 4/9 Livestock LLC, were quite pleased in having successfully defeated on summary judgment all of the nuisance, trespass and negligence claims asserted by the Plaintiffs and their counsel, Hoosier Environmental Council, at the Hendricks County Superior Court, Indiana Court of Appeals, Indiana Supreme Court, and the United States Supreme Court. As a result of their successful defense of this litigation, 4/9 Livestock’s 8,000 hog-raising CAFO facilities will continue to operate without interruption and Co-Alliance will continue with its hog supply and finishing contracts with more than 120 growers. In addition, for the first time since it was enacted into law more than 40 years ago, Indiana’s Right to Farm Act was held to be constitutional by Indiana’s appellate courts. The important protections from nuisance lawsuits provided by Indiana’s Right to Farm Act are of tremendous value to all farmers and the agricultural industry in the State of Indiana. Finally, despite the multi-million dollar settlement demand made by the Plaintiffs and their counsel for alleged damages and attorneys fees, the Plaintiffs and their counsel, Hoosier Environmental Council, recovered $0 from the Defendants and have nothing to show for their five years of litigation efforts.
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