HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Government Threatens Retired Engineer With a Crime for Doing Math

Views: 856
Wayne Nutt is an engineer. He graduated with a degree in engineering from the University of Iowa in 1967, and he promptly went to work as an engineer. He spent most of his time working in North Carolina, mostly for DuPont, using his expertise to do things like designing piping systems and helping with international technology licensing. Since his retirement in 2013, Wayne has not done any engineering—he hasn’t designed or built things—but he is still an engineer at heart, and so he talks about engineering a lot: When he spots math errors in public documents, he speaks up. When he thinks people are mischaracterizing engineering reports, he speaks out. And when he can answer a question that he thinks is important, he answers it.

https://ij.org/press-release/north-carolina-board-tells-retired-engineer-he-cant-talk-about-engineering/

And that is what has gotten him into trouble. Wayne never needed a license to work as an engineer. Because he worked for big manufacturers for his whole career, everything Wayne did (like everything most engineers do) fell under North Carolina’s “industrial exemption” and did not require a license. But according to the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors, talking about the sort of work Wayne did does require a license.

Wayne’s trouble started when he volunteered to testify as an expert witness in a case his son, an attorney, was litigating. The case involved a piping system in a housing development that allegedly caused flooding in nearby areas, and Wayne, who had designed plenty of pipes in his day, volunteered to testify about the volume of fluid that pipe could be expected to carry. Wayne still had a copy of the leading sourcebook on his bookshelf, and the analysis itself seemed pretty easy—at least for Wayne.

But it was also—according to the Board—illegal. After Wayne’s deposition in the case, where he truthfully testified that he was not (and never had been) a licensed engineer, someone complained to the Board that he was practicing engineering without a license, which is a criminal misdemeanor.

It might seem impossible to “practice” engineering by sitting in a conference room answering questions, but, shockingly, the Board seems to think Wayne crossed a line. The Board’s position is that offering any testimony that requires “engineering knowledge” is illegal without a license—even if someone truthfully discloses their credentials, and even if a judge wants to hear the testimony.

But that is wrong. In this country, we rely on people to decide who they want to listen to. We do not rely on government to decide who gets to speak. The Board’s position gets that important principle backwards. That is why Wayne has joined forces with the Institute for Justice to file a major First Amendment lawsuit against the Board, designed to vindicate the basic principle that the First Amendment protects our right to hear useful speech on difficult topics and that the Board cannot silence Wayne simply because his opinions are based on his knowledge of engineering.
Donate to IJ: https://ij.org/support/give-now/
@IJvidsfollow
Thumbnail for Gov’t Official Brought Defamation Lawsuit, BACKFIRED0:59
Gov’t Official Brought Defamation Lawsuit, BACKFIRED
IJvids
808 views
Thumbnail for Doctors File Lawsuit Challenging State's Ban on Dispensing Medications to Their Patients3:32
Doctors File Lawsuit Challenging State's Ban on Dispensing Medications to Their Patients
IJvids
863 views
Thumbnail for True0:17
True
bestofvid8
503 views
Thumbnail for Omaha Freeway Nigger5:07
Omaha Freeway Nigger
voatcatbox
653 views
Thumbnail for Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Rally for School Choice5:43
Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Rally for School Choice
ReasonVids
929 views
Thumbnail for PÓS-JOGO DO AV CARIOCÃO 2025 | VASCO DA GAMA 2 X 0 MADUREIRA | Atenção Vascaínos!1:27:29
PÓS-JOGO DO AV CARIOCÃO 2025 | VASCO DA GAMA 2 X 0 MADUREIRA | Atenção Vascaínos!
invidious
68 views
Thumbnail for Halo 3 - Team Slayer - Snowbound (XBOX ONE) | Mystical Gaming10:00
Halo 3 - Team Slayer - Snowbound (XBOX ONE) | Mystical Gaming
invidious
385 views
Thumbnail for All you people do is... | IMMAPlCCOLO0:09
All you people do is... | IMMAPlCCOLO
invidious
270 views
Thumbnail for An "American" man called Shadeed Abdulmateen has been sentenced to death in China3:23
An "American" man called Shadeed Abdulmateen has been sentenced to death in China
bestofvoatxyz
772 views
Thumbnail for Doom - E4M8: Unto the Cruel (Nightmare! 100% Secrets + Items) | decino9:41
Doom - E4M8: Unto the Cruel (Nightmare! 100% Secrets + Items) | decino
doom.topic
402 views
Thumbnail for Government Threatens Retired Engineer With a Crime for Doing Math | Institute for Justice2:56
Government Threatens Retired Engineer With a Crime for Doing Math | Institute for Justice
invidious
364 views
Thumbnail for Ex pornstar wants to forget about her past and get married0:15
Ex pornstar wants to forget about her past and get married
bestofvoatxyz
546 views
Thumbnail for How the U.S. Covered Up the Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi19:09
How the U.S. Covered Up the Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi
ReasonVids
927 views
Thumbnail for From Blue Pill to Bad Boy: What Women Really Want | Grunt Speak19:08
From Blue Pill to Bad Boy: What Women Really Want | Grunt Speak
Terrence Popp
432 views
Thumbnail for Neighbors having an argument, gets a little wet.0:50
Neighbors having an argument, gets a little wet.
publicfreakouts
1121 views
Thumbnail for IJ Fights to Unleash Free Speech1:40
IJ Fights to Unleash Free Speech
IJvids
930 views
Thumbnail for Roller Kingdom FTW!1:13
Roller Kingdom FTW!
bestofupgoat
291 views
Thumbnail for Mississippi Republican Congressional Candidate and Pilot Says Navy Is Grounding Him for Political Views0:29
Mississippi Republican Congressional Candidate and Pilot Says Navy Is Grounding Him for Political Views
bestofvoatxyz
1816 views
Thumbnail for Your Band Sucks: Jon Fine on How the Indie Cultural Revolution Changed America7:31
Your Band Sucks: Jon Fine on How the Indie Cultural Revolution Changed America
ReasonVids
903 views
Thumbnail for Saving Lives: Challenging the Ban on Compensating Bone Marrow Donors2:49
Saving Lives: Challenging the Ban on Compensating Bone Marrow Donors
IJvids
847 views
Thumbnail for Jon Haidt on The Coddling of the American Mind and How We Should Address It25:48
Jon Haidt on The Coddling of the American Mind and How We Should Address It
ReasonVids
857 views
Thumbnail for Law for Non-Lawyers – Standards of Review36:29
Law for Non-Lawyers – Standards of Review
IJvids
892 views

points

Permalink
Reply
ij, institute for justice, freedom, liberty, individual rights, constitution, constitutional law, unconstitutional law, con law, constitutional litigation
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle