Prop 12 and SCOTUS
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a case by the American Farm Bureau and the National Pork Producers Council challenging the constitutionality of a California animal welfare law.
Attorney, Timothy Bishop asked the Court to overturn a lower court ruling that threw out their lawsuit against Prop 12 banning pork, veal and eggs from animals not raised by California’s minimum space standards …
PROP 12 … “Proposition 12 violates the Commerce clause, almost per se, because it’s an extraterritorial regulation that conditions pork sales on out-of-state farmers adopting California’s preferred farming methods, no other state makes farmers house pigs the way California does.”
Increasing costs for pig farmers, nearly all located outside California.
Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler …
PROP 12 … “Proposition 12 imposes a trade barrier, based on conduct beyond California’s borders. It fails to respect the autonomy of California’s sister states. It invites conflict and retaliation, and threatens the Balkanization of the national economic union.”
But from California Solicitor General Michael Mongen …
PROP 12 … “California voters chose to pay higher prices to serve their local interest, in refusing to provide a market for products they viewed as morally objectionable and potentially unsafe. The Commerce Clause does not prohibit that choice.”
14 mainly Democratic-led States argued overturning
California’s law would undermine state legislative authority. 20 GOP-led states argued upholding Prop 12 would undermine state sovereignty.
