In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court majority said the types of meat being sold in California do not raise constitutional questions for Proposition 12, which the state’s voters approved.
While the decision runs counter to the U.S. pork industry, it favors the country’s animal activist community.
At issue was a sweeping proposal passed by voters in 2018 that prohibited the sale of certain poultry and pork products in California from areas of other states that did not comply with California animal husbandry standards. was whether or not it could be prevented.
Kitty Bullock, President and CEO, said, “The Supreme Court upheld California’s Proposition 12, the nation’s strongest animal welfare law, making preventing animal cruelty and protecting public health a core function of state government. I’m happy to make that clear,” he said. of the Humane Society of America.
“We are grateful to our many good allies who contributed to the success of Prop. We will not stop fighting until the Pork Industry Leaders Fight This Common Sense Action To Stop Products That Inflict Relentless And Unbearable Animal Torture From Being Sold In California. And it’s amazing to waste so much time and money.”
For the pork industry, the Supreme Court decision is a significant loss. Farmers say if the California law is upheld, it won’t be long before other states adopt different requirements, making it harder for growers to meet the labyrinth of requirements. rice field.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit previously upheld Prop. 12 and dismissed lawsuits filed against the Act by farmers because trade groups failed to claim damages.
Pork producers have appealed to the Supreme Court, saying Prop. 12 violates the U.S. Constitution’s interstate commerce clause. United States Attorney General Elizabeth B. Preroger sided with the Interstate Commerce Clause and pork producers.
The Supreme Court held oral argument on October 11 this year. California said the only Proposition 12-compliant pork that out-of-state companies must produce is pork that they choose to supply the California market. They are free to make as many other pork products as they like and sell them to markets outside of California.
Proposition 12 makes it a criminal and civil offense to sell whole pig meat in California. Unless that pig is born from a sow raised within her 24 square foot space and in an environment where the sow can turn without touching the pen. Proposition 12 applies to uncooked pork sold in the state whether or not it was raised in California.
The five majority judges were conservatives Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett, and liberals Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagen.
Justice Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion: Consumer demand and local laws usually provide part of the answer.
“Recently, California passed just such a law prohibiting the sale within the state of certain pork products derived from breeding pigs confined to sheds so small that they cannot lie down, stand up, or turn around. In response, two groups of out-of-state pork producers filed the lawsuit, stating that the law violated our dormant Commerce Clause precedent and made their preferred way of doing business unconstitutional. The District Court and the Court of Appeal dismissed the producer’s complaint for failing to present its allegations.
“We affirm that companies that choose to sell their products in various states must generally comply with the laws of those various states. No state can use its laws to intentionally discriminate against out-of-state economic interests under the ruling on the law, but pork producers argue that California law violates this principle. I didn’t suggest that.”
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