Justice Neil Gorsuch was the key vote in the 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States not to accept the challenge by the National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation, said Pro Farmer analyst Jim Wiesemeyer on AgriTalk.
On May 11, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld California’s new humane-pork law, ruling the case was properly dismissed by lower courts. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson were dissenting.
In Wiesemeyer’s opinion, Justice Kavanaugh went out of his way to at least offer some potential future challenges.
Kavanaugh said: “Regardless, it will be important in future cases to consider that state laws like Proposition 12 also raised substantial constitutional questions under the Import Export-Clause, the Privileges and Immunities Clause and the Full Faith and Credit Clause,” added AgriTalk’s host Chip Flory. “He comes right out and says it’s important in future cases. This is not done.”
Flory said there are a number of things that concern him as the industry moves forward.
“In that media coverage, there are going to be comments that are far from true,” Flory said. “Things like this in Reuters’ coverage: ‘The law mandates pig confinement spaces large enough to enable the animals to turn around, lie down, stand up and extend their limbs.’ True. ‘Animal rights groups have said some pork producers can find pigs in cages so small that pigs cannot turn around for most of their lives.’ That’s just blatantly false.”
In addition, if Proposition 12 holds through the next challenge, Flory said this will either be a major overhaul of the hog industry or California is going to have to go without pork.
“It’s one of the two,” Flory said. “California has got 1% of the herd and they consume about 13% of the pork … biggest pork consuming state in the nation.”
For now, this is a states’ rights issue, Wiesemeyer pointed out. It’s not just a pork industry issue.
