Hello everyone,
 
Yesterday, Eugene Soroten was given a trial date of June 22nd for possession
of three illegal wild animals.  CFL had been following Soroten's case hoping
this issue would go to trial.  At a pre-trial hearing months ago, the DA
wanted to impose a $100.00 fine and say goodbye to the whole thing.  Perhaps
he was trying to be nice, but ferret owners have had their domesticated
pets, their private property, taken away without due process for too long in
this state and Mr. Soroten was advised by his attorney to say no to the
$100.00 deal.  He told the judge he wanted his ferrets back or his day in
court.
 
Yesterday, the DA's position was that there was no triable issue of fact
(something necessary before a trial can continue).  He stated that ferrets
were illegal and therefore Mr. Soroten had broken the law, simple as that.
The DA chose to overlook the fact that ferrets have never been determined to
be a wild animal by this state.  CFL's position is that they are legal
BECAUSE they are domesticated, not wild.  The state has no right to ban this
animal.  DFG claimed that they'd already been determined to be wild but
that's simply not true as the San Diego County ruling showed.
 
In any case, the judge was very impressed with that ruling in which judge
Judith McConnell said in no uncertain terms that the state never determined
ferrets to be wild, and that the state must make a ruling immediately-- a
logical step to take, one would think, prior to placing the animal in a
wildlife list!
 
Well, we won this round and the case is not going away--- yet.  The DA can
drop the charges any time but we will file a class action suit if that
happens.  We will also highlight the fact that the opposition has so much
faith in their ferret ban that they've run from every challenge in court.
In case a class action suit goes forward, I would like anyone that has had
their ferrets confiscated to please contact me with the date of the
confiscation and the fine that was paid, if any.  We may want to contact you
to verify facts so please include a phone number (daytime at least).
 
Jeanne Carley
Californians for Ferret Legalization (CFL)
410 Mountain Home Road  Woodside, CA  94062
(650) 851-3750   <[log in to unmask]>
http://www.ferretnews.org-- CFL Website
CALIFORNIANS, YOU CAN FIND OUT YOUR STATE SENATOR BY VISITING THIS SITE!!
CALL AND WRITE YOUR SENATOR AND GOV. WILSON--DON'T LET OUR BILL DIE!
[Posted in FML issue 2313]