The North American Meat Institute’s (Meat Institute) lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 12 received key support from the federal government and 20 states with the filing of two amicus briefs, the Meat Institute reports in a release.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief supporting the Meat Institute’s petition on Nov. 30 for rehearing en banc in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
As well, the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming filed a separate amicus brief in support of the Meat Institute’s petition.
“The support from the United States government and 20 states underscores the significance of our case against Prop 12,” Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts said in a release. “Prop 12 is unconstitutional and not only hurts consumers with higher prices for pork, veal and eggs, it is costly for the federal government’s programs designed to help those facing hunger, including the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. At a time when so many are turning to this critical assistance during the pandemic, Prop 12 hurts those most in need.”
According to the state of California’s own economic analysis, consumer prices will likely increase as producers will be required to spend money to expand or construct new animal housing which may cost more to operate in the long term. According to the Meat Institute, the state acknowledges it may take years for farmers to comply resulting in a shortfall of products and increased prices for consumers.
The best way to protect animal well-being is to allow farmers to make farm and animal-specific decisions on animal care, said Michael Formica, assistant vice president and general counsel for National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), in an October article.
“Compliance with Proposition 12 will cost individual farmers millions of dollars. The ones least able to bear that cost will be small family farms,” Formica said.
Read more here:
California’s Proposition 12 Would Cost U.S. Pork Industry Billions
Court Upholds California Proposition 12
California’s Proposition 12: NPPC, AFBF Seek to Strike as Invalid
New Briefs Filed in Support of NPPC’s Proposition 12 Lawsuit
