Riley’s Heritage Farm Stands Firm in the Cancel Culture Storm; Wins Victory in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

As we approach the final stretch of the four-year reign of the Master of Disaster, also known as Joe Biden, we owe it to ourselves to raise above the mire of The Swamp and celebrate the good news when we can.  Especially when that good news deals with freedom of speech in the epicenter of cancel culture (Southern California) and delivers a blow to extreme left-wing activists and bureaucrats.  

So, what is the good news, and does it really come from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals?  The same court that Trump once called a “complete and total disaster.”

Yes, that Ninth circuit.  Perhaps unknown to many, President Trump was able to appoint 10 judges to the 9^th circuit prior to January 2021, which cut the liberal dominance to just three justices.  Mr. Biden was able to claw back that majority somewhat by appointing eight justices himself, however our good news comes from a three-judge panel comprised of two Trump appointees and one Biden appointee.

The Case

The case we are not supposed to celebrate is Riley’s American Heritage Farms v. Elsasser, and the decision was handed down on April 24, 2024, by Judges R. Nelson, VanDyke, and Sanchez.  The decision was 2-1 with Biden appointee Sanchez dissenting and reversed summary judgement (against Riley) and remanded the case back to district court for “…material issues of fact regarding… dispute with Claremont Unified School District.”  Specifically at issue for the District Court is if the Claremont Unified School District “…maintain[s] an ongoing policy in violation of Riley plaintiffs first amendment rights.” 

The decision, according to James Riley (owner/operator of Riley’s Heritage Farms) was actually “Two Victories.”  The decision is a win for Riley’s Farm, a win for free speech, and a vicarious win to anyone ever victimized by the Karen Brigade—the extreme-leftists that gleefully (and anonymously) serve as the tip of the spear for cancel culture.  Karen Brigades can also be found during the French Revolution, China’s Cultural Revolution, Leninist and Stalinist Russia, and other totalitarian movements throughout history where snitches run amok.  

 Case History

It all started, according to this Canada Free Press article, in 2018 with a tweet about Stormy Daniels, the former porn star that recently beclowned herself in the Biden regime led show trial of President Trump in New York.  James Riley tweeted some snark from his personal account on Twitter (now known as X) which was at the time, as everyone knows, downtown Snarksville led by snarky leftist propagandists masquerading as journalists.

The tweet, which had to do with Stormy’s “Make America Horny Again” strip club tour.  Riley also tweeted about David Hogg being an idiot and that “Louis Farrakhan is likely more dangerous than any notion of White Nationalism, [after] he was called a racist.” Those tweets were enough to activate the Southern California public-school teachers squadron of the Karen Brigade, into cancel culture engagement to squash Riley’s freedom of speech and to destroy his business.

The Farm Business

Riley’s Heritage Farm is a working farm of over 700 acres in Oak Glen, California, in the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains. Customers can pick a variety of fruits including apples, blackberries, strawberries, and many others when in season.

According to the CFP article:

Jim and his wife built a Colonial-inspired home on the farm in 1994, and were thinking about doing 18th century dinner theater. Shortly thereafter, the Rileys were approached by parents of local elementary school students asking for historical field trips at the farm. “We started doing American Revolution-themed tours, and Civil War reenactments for 5th graders in Southern California,” Riley said when we talked recently. “Within five years, we were seeing 50,000 students a year, and in the last 17 years, more than 1.2 million students, parents and teachers visited programs on the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the California Gold Rush.”

Riley described the events as an escape to the 18th century, where school children are met and harassed by Redcoats as they arrive at the farm. “It’s all American for people who love America,” Riley said. However, schools recently began cancelling reservations for the Riley Farm historical reenactments.

It is a great way for kids to learn about America’s history, but is fun for adults as well, complete with tomahawk throwing and bow and arrow shooting. In addition, Riley’s offers top notch dinner theaters and big band and rockabilly dances for evening entertainment. It is well worth the visit and hotels are nearby and standing by if one has a long drive they would rather not undertake. This writer has spent many a day at the farm during the last four years. Indeed, at the peak of the Covid nonsense it was one of the few places you could go and enjoy the fresh air without fearing a masked mob attacking you for not wearing a mask. Freedom. 

Karen Brigade

According to Riley, most teachers he is acquainted with are reasonable people who appreciate the living history experience at Riley’s Farm.  In an IE Newswire interview with Roy Bleckert in April, Riley said “…even in Southern California and the People’s Republic here… that they’re [public school teachers] mostly sensible people. They love American history, they like teaching the kids….”

However, the few teachers that went bonkers over Riley’s opinion that differed from theirs, was enough to spur them to organize a boycott and school districts began cancelling field trips.

In response, Riley sued the school districts. While he lost the initial case, presided over by an Obama appointed judge, Riley stood strong in the storm and appealed. Riley credits his freedom-loving customers that stood by him, continued to visit the farm, and even donated to his legal fund for critical assistance in holding the school districts’ “feet to the fire.” It took years to get to victory in the Ninth Circuit Court, but as a result, nine school districts settled with cash payment to the Farm. Those districts were San Bernardino, Monrovia, Azusa, Long Beach, Bonita, Burbank, Rialto, Walnut Valley, and Culver City.

Claremont School District was the exception however, as the Ninth Circuit ordered the case back the Obama judge for a bench trial to determine if Claremont is still boycotting.  Riley hopes to prevail and force “Claremont to pay millions in legal fees.”

“Any individual,” Riley observed when contacted for a comment, “can boycott any company or organization they like, but the courts have made it clear that government agencies cannot use the massive buying power of the state to organize boycotts.  If they could, they could effectively prevent any difference of opinion by mandating state-approved-think–on penalty of losing your public service job or contract.”

In the IE Newswire interview, Riley explained that he does not project modern day politics into the live history presentations. But that did not matter to the Karen Brigade who Riley explained don’t “…know how much they are like fascists. They won’t admit it, but that’s what they are…. It’s almost like swilling bourbon in the Baptist Sunday school for these people. They just cannot understand disagreement and mostly because they can’t defend their positions. And so, the only way that they can fight is to silence the opposition.”  Head of nail, meet hammer.

One school district even had “the gall” to offer to cancel their boycott “as long as Jim Riley doesn’t show his face to the students.”  Riley was insulted by the demand that he hide himself away at his own home and declined.

Riley strongly believes that the Bill of Rights is worth defending and sets an example for all who might be faced with similar circumstances.  Well done, Mr. James Riley!

Never back down. Never surrender.