This is government overreach at its worst.
According to the Daily Signal, the U.S. government is prosecuting a elderly veteran of the Navy for digging ponds on his own property.
An elderly veteran who ran a business supplying water to fight forest fires was prosecuted by the federal government and sent to prison for digging ponds on his own property, one of his lawyers says.
Joe Robertson, a Navy veteran from Montana, was 78 when he was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution through deductions from his Social Security checks.
His crime?
Robertson, whose business supplied water trucks to Montana firefighters, dug a series of small ponds close to his home in 2013 and 2014. The site was a wooded area near a channel, a foot wide and a foot deep, with two to three garden hoses’ worth of flow, according to court documents.The U.S. government prosecuted Robertson for digging in proximity to “navigable waters” without a permit, a violation of the Clean Water Act administered by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Here's the best part: the largest navigable body of water anywhere near the Robertson home is more than 40 miles away.
He was digging the ponds because the area around his home is “increasingly fire prone,” he was “concerned about the safety and vulnerability of his property." He built the ponds “with a view toward being well-prepared should a fire strike.”
When we say we want the feds out of our lives, this is what we mean.
An American citizen should not be prosecuted for digging small ponds on his own property. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the last 100 years of judicial activism allows.
The Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution to grant far more power to the federal government than the framers intended. The only way to restrict that power is via constitutional amendment, and the only way to get those amendments is via a Convention of States.
An Article V Convention of States allows the people, acting through their state legislatures, to propose constitutional amendments. These amendments don't need the approval of the federal government. The entire process is controlled by the states, including the subsequent ratification process.
Amendments proposed can dramatically reduce the power and jurisdiction of the federal government and ensure that the EPA and other federal agencies stop harassing law-abiding American citizens.
Sign the Petition below to get involved!
