Hey everyone, we have an update and some great news for all of our plaintiffs!
The board members of the MN Deer Farmers Association have been united and active in pushing this case forward. If I were to write down every phone call, every email, every text message, and every zoom call that we have made, this email would be over 100 pages in length. It has been an incredible journey on the road to the U.S. Supreme Court, with added expenses, added work, and strict deadlines. Our attorney Erick Kaardal has been doing a fantastic job, he has been informing us of work that needed to be done, money that was needed to be raised, and of course people that we should reach out to.
Our case is now on file at the U.S. Supreme Court. Here is the link to our case: Search - Supreme Court of the United States
In order to have an Amicus Brief drawn up by a U.S. Supreme Court certified attorney, funds needed to be raised. The average cost of an Amicus Brief is usually $10,000. Steve did have a Go Fund me link on his Facebook site and was able to raise $10,000 from individual donors for legal expenses. Yes, we were able to raise the correct amount of money to pay for one Amicus Brief.
Three Stones Legal Defense Fund came alongside us in this fight and created a nice section for us on their website. They also created a donation link. This information was then promoted by Steve on his Facebook site and a total of about $23,000 was raised. Three Stones directly takes in this money, and then has a process for paying out the money for approved legal expenses. A this point, the expenses are mainly costs associated with creating and filing Amicus Briefs. A link for this Three Stone Legal Defense Fund site can be found here: HOME
The Cavalry group is an incredible organization that fights for the rights of animal owners all across the nation. This group was founded by Mindy Patterson, Mindy is relentless in the fight to protect land owners, animal owners, and the U.S. Constitution. Mindy saw a video on Facebook from Steve Porter and then reached out to Steve. The cavalry group did join the fight with a brand new energy and was able to file and pay for an Amicus Brief. Here is a link to the Cavalry Group website: A Major Case for America’s Farmers & Ranchers Is Headed to the U.S. Supreme Court - CavalryGroupNewswire.com The Cavalry Group Amicus Brief can be found here: Penaltabrief[alt1]
U.S. Congressman Pete Stauber and U.S. Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach were able to sign on to an Amicus Brief in support of our case. The link to this Amicus Brief can be found here: 20251125151804762_Members of U.S. Congress - Amicus Curiae Brief--Final Formatted--11-23-25.pdf
The North American Deer Farmers Association was able to put forth an Amicus Brief AND there were many other agricultural groups, state senators, and state representatives that signed on to this Amicus Brief. The following is a list of partners who signed on to this brief: THE NORTH AMERICAN DEER FARMERS ASSOCIATION, THE KENTUCKY ALTERNATIVE LIVESTOCK ASSOCIATION, PENNSYLVANIA DEER FARMERS ASSOCIATION, HUNTER NATION, INC., HUNTERS FOR HUNTERS, WHITETAILS OF WISCONSIN, VENTURE DAIRY COOPERATIVE, AMERICAN AGRI-WOMEN, MINNESOTA ELK BREEDERS ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EGG FARMERS, LLC, OKLAHOMA INDEPENDENT STOCKGROWERS ASSOCIATION, SAFARI NORTH WILDLIFE PARK, MINNESOTA GAME BREEDERS CLUB, SAVE OUR FARMS AND RANCHES, INC., OKLAHOMA STATE REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT FETGATTER, OKLAHOMA STATE REPRESENTATIVE JIM SHAW, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR NATHAN WESENBERG, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR STEVE DRAZKOWSKI, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR BILL LIESKE, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR MICHAEL W. HOLMSTROM, MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR TORREY N. WESTROM, MINNESOTA STATE REPRESENTATIVE MIKE WIENER, AND MINNESOTA STATE REPRESENTATIVE DREW ROACH, AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER. The link to this Amicus Brief can be found here: Kunzbrief[alt.2]
The Cato Institute came alongside us in this case. Cato is one of the most prolific filers of Amicus Briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court, providing a third-party perspective to help influence the Court’s decisions. These Briefs are often cited in both majoritey and dissenting opinions, a testiment to their impact. Here is a link to the Cato Institute: About the Cato Institute The Cato Institute did file an Amicus Brief in support of this case and it can be found here: 20251201091139291_Minn. Deer Farmers_Final.pdf
We have also been able to successfully contact U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Secretary Rollins has been a huge help and she has put Erick Kaardal, Scott Fier, and Steve Porter in touch with three high level government attorneys. There have been several zoom meetings, and there are more plans in the works for the success of our case at the U.S. Supreme Court.
All of the work that is mentioned in the above email is a relatively quick read; however, the work outlined above is actually the fruit of hundreds and hundreds of hours of relentless work. I would like to let all of the plaintiffs know that as a board of the Minnesota Deer Farmers Association, we are 100 united AND we agree that we are now in an exceptional position to actually have the U.S. Supreme Court give us a hearing on our case. As you read through the Amicus Briefs listed above, you will see that high level attorneys, politicians, and agricultural groups have joined us in this fight. This fight is no longer just about our deer farms, it is about preserving the U.S. Constitution and defending it with a relentless pursuit.
As of right now, there is nothing else urgent for us to do in this fight. We need to take a breath and sit back and see what happens next. If the U.S. Solicitor General files an Amicus Brief in this case, then we may possibly get an opportunity to encourage other groups and politicians to join our fight in the form of more Amicus Briefs.
If/when we win at the U.S. Supreme Court, it would then be time to start working on a damages claim lawsuit.
Concerning our civil case in MN where many of us received Notices of Violations for not putting up exclusionary fencing, that case was a three day trial. The civil judge took the matter under advisement and we should get a decision in the next 6 to 8 weeks. If we are found guilty, and it is likely that we will be found guilty, we believe that the state would give us an amount of time to correct the Notice of Violation, and then when it is not corrected, the license to farm could/would be revoked. The state has put it into state statute 35.155 subd 4 that the DNR may come and kill off our animals once we have our license revoked. What is going on? How interesting that we are heading into the U.S. Supreme Court to get a ruling on if these laws that were passed are constitutional and at the same time the state is using these same laws to seek to destroy our license to farm and to also lead us to killing off our animals.
We firmly believe we are now in a good position at the U.S. Supreme Court. If you have any questions or new problems with the DNR, please call us and let us know.
For now, we wait.
Sincerely,
Scott Fier-President
MDFA
507-829-3151
