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Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Rapanos Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of John Rapanos, the Michigan man who has been persecuted by the federal government for twenty years for dumping sand onto his property without the government's permission. The government claimed Rapanos' 176 acres was a wetland and that the fill could harm "waters of the U. S. even though the property is located twenty miles from the nearest navigable water, Saginaw Bay. The government successfully prosecuted Rapanos who was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, three years probation and fined $185,000. The feds then accused Rapanos of violating the Clean Water Act using the "migratory molecule" rule, which says that even isolated wetlands fall under federal jurisdiction because there is a theoretical chance that a water molecule from any location may reach a navigable waterway. Rapanos lost again, with the government demanding a fine of $13 million, forfeiture of 80 acres and federal prison time. Rapanos appealed to the Supreme Court, but was turned down. The Court has since had a change of heart and will hear the case early next year. "The [Rapanos] case," says a Grand Rapids Press story, "should turn on the language of the Constitution, the limits on federal powers provided there and the founders' efforts to respect private property." 

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