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A Minnesota man accused of violating the state's raw milk laws was just the middle man in a voluntary arrangement of people sharing food, his attorney argued Wednesday.

Alvin Schlangen, an organic egg producer in central Minnesota, is charged with three misdemeanor counts including distributing unpasteurized milk, operating without a food handler's license and handling adulterated food. Minnesota law prohibits raw milk sales except directly to consumers on the farm when it's produced.

A yearlong sting operation, including aliases, a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and surreptitious purchases from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, culminated in the federal government announcing this week that it has gone to court to stop Rainbow Acres Farm from selling its contraband to willing customers in the Washington area.The product in question: unpasteurized milk.

OTTAWA – After five years, the Harper Conservatives today pleaded guilty to breaking Canada’s election laws. While four Conservative insiders escaped accountability, NDP leader Nycole Turmel says that Stephen Harper cannot. She called on him to explain his party’s illegal actions.

What does a man who attempted to pay a juror $2,500 for a “not guilty” verdict have in common with a 79 retired college professor who handed out information on jury nullification to people entering a court house? This is not a trick question, both men have been charged with “jury tampering.”

Julian Heicklen was indicted of jury tampering last year and now faces federal charges. Heicklen, a 79-year-old retired chemistry professor, has often stood outside various courthouses holding a “Jury Info” sign and handing out brochures that inform jurors of their rights.

"Because jury nullification potentially interferes with the enforcement of the law as written, courts may feel threatened by it." New Hampshire’s model jury instruction 3.17 lays out the power of jury nullification. In its model instructions to jurors, it reads, “Even if you find that the State has proven each and every element of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt, you may still find the defendant not guilty if you have a conscientious feeling that a not guilty verdict would be a fair result in this case.”

No matter how many new laws and regulations governments create, old and obsolete laws are never repealed. Over the years, this has led to an environment in which all of us are unwittingly guilty of committing multiple felonies every day. The only thing keeping us out of prison and saddled with crushing legal fees is we haven't attracted the attention of enterprising and/or bored public officials.

People are breaking laws without intent to break those laws, but persecutors no longer need to prove criminal intent. This article proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the old tenet of "Innocent until proven guilty" no longer applies in the so called "land of the free."

When 17-year-old New York City resident Alvin faced repeated harassment from Police, he took matters into his own hands. He secretly recorded his encounter with two police officers...

Alvin asks the officers, who threatened violence if he didn’t stop asking questions, “What am I getting arrested for?” One of the officers harshly responds: “For being a f*ck#$%g mutt! You know that!?”

The FDA has won its two-year fight to shut down an Amish farmer who was selling fresh, raw milk to eager consumers in the Washington region, after a judge this month banned Daniel Allgyer from selling his milk across state lines, and he told his customers he'll shut his farm down altogether.