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A Baraga County farmer can continue to raise a special breed of hog.
The state sued Roger and Brenda Turunen in 2012, saying that the pigs they raised were illegal under a Michigan law that had been passed to reduce the wild boar population. There followed a lengthy battle over whether or not the Turunen’s hogs were, or were not, covered by the ban. During that time, the original pigs in question all died.
The suit continued, though, and was recently remanded back to Baraga County Circuit Court for another hearing.
In the decision released yesterday, Judge Charles Goodman ruled that the state’s original definition of the banned boar was unconstitutionally vague, and that the state had not proved that the hogs owned by the Turunens were included in the banned species.
See Goodman’s full ruling here.
