Two Oregon Ranchers to Serve Five Years in Federal Prison

Earlier in the week I shared the story of the two Eastern Oregon Ranchers -- the Hammonds --  who were facing a five year federal prison sentence under the 1996 Anti-Terrorism Act for starting a prescribed fire and blackburn on their property which spread to BLM land and burned nearly 140 acres.A relative of Steve Hammond, Jacon Taylor was present at the sentencing in Eugene on Wednesday. He shares
Taylor: “So if you look at five years, for a 139 acres and a $100 of damage — you know that does shock most reasonable people. What is really scary about it. Let’s just agree that Hammonds made mistakes and that’s how they ended up in court. But what is hard to understand is when the government picks how hard they are going to go after someone with a pre-determined idea of the outcome — for five years. Not only has this been a financial cost to the family — but the real cost you have to look at is the emotional cost and the family cost.”
Again — they admitted culpability, have already paid hundreds of thousands of dollars as well as an earlier shorter prison sentence. This is a shocking example of dracoan government overreach.
This is completely unjust — please go to savethehammonds.com and sign the petition.