Judge Denies Iowa Pork Producers’ Injunction Against Proposition 12
A California federal judge denied an attempt by Iowa pork producers to block California’s Proposition 12 with a preliminary injunction and granted California’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
In addition to a possible appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder granted Iowa Pork Producers Association 14 days to amend their lawsuit in response to the Court’s dismissal.
Proposition 12 is California’s 2018 ballot initiative that bans the sale of meat and eggs derived from producers that don’t meet California standards. It prohibits the sale of pork from pigs not raised in at least 24 square feet of space.
In August, the Iowa Pork Producers Association filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Iowa alleging that Prop 12 unquestionably affects pork producers in the state of Iowa – by affecting how Iowa pork producers raise their pigs.
Iowa pork producers argued compliance would sharply boost costs, but in August, U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams sided with California officials and ruled there was no proof California intended to harm Iowa producers when voters passed Proposition 12. The plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction to stop Proposition 12 from going into effect was moot once the judge found no personal jurisdiction. IPPA then filed the lawsuit in California federal court.
The National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) are waiting to learn whether the U.S. Supreme Court will agree to take their case against Prop 12.
NPPC and AFBF are petitioning the Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of one state imposing regulations that reach far outside its borders and stifle interstate and international commerce. And, in this case, it’s about arbitrary animal housing standards that lack any scientific, technical or agricultural basis and that will only inflict harm on U.S. hog farmers, NPPC says.
However, NPPC argues the precedent runs counter to numerous Supreme Court decisions and conflicts with nearly every other federal circuit court. The Commerce Clause typically grants Congress the power to regulate trade among the states and restricts states from regulating commerce outside their borders, except for matters related to public health and safety.
Bryan Humphreys, NPPC CEO, said at the Illinois Pork Expo that this is bigger than Prop 12 – it’s about establishing interstate and dormant state commerce clauses for all of agriculture.
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