Judge Denies Proposition 12 Challenge From Iowa Pork Producers
U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams dismissed a case brought before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa challenging Proposition 12.
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.
“We would have obviously preferred the judge ruled the other way and found that there was personal jurisdiction, and we believe there was,” says co-counsel Eldon McAfee, a lawyer with Brick Gentry P.C. “Enacting this law 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 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.
“Iowa is the leading pork-producing state,” McAfee said. “We are trying to make the point Prop 12 will have a significant impact on the Iowa economy and Iowa farmers. But the court looks at what contacts the defendant has with the plaintiff to determine if they can be sued in another state. Here, the court says we don’t have jurisdiction to bring this suit against California in Iowa.”
Iowa Pork Producers Association, in its own right and in a representative capacity for its members, and individual producers Linn Valley Pigs, Twin Prairie Pork and New Generation Pork, filed the complaint on May 24 in the Iowa's Franklin County District Court against Rob Bonta, in his official capacity as Attorney General of California; Karen Ross, in her official capacity as Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture; and Thomas Aragon, in his official capacity as Director of the California Department of Public Health, Legal Newsline reported in June.
In late July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined the National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation's petition to strike down Proposition 12 as unconstitutional under the dormant Commerce Clause. A month earlier, the Supreme Court denied a petition to review California’s Proposition 12 filed by the North American Meat Institute.
“We don’t believe the requirements of Prop 12 are science-based,” McAfee says. “Our research and science-based factors show animal welfare will not be improved by meeting the requirements of Prop 12.”
Read more on Proposition 12:
Federal Court Rejects NPPC's Petition to Strike Down Proposition 12
Pork Industry Braces for Catastrophic Costs to Implement Proposition 12
Supreme Court Rejects Meat Institute’s Petition to Review Proposition 12
Proposition 12 Pressures Aren’t Going Away
On-Demand Webinar: Proposition 12: Where Do We Go From Here?
20 States Back Challenge to the Constitutionality of California’s Prop 12
California’s Proposition 12 Would Cost U.S. Pork Industry Billions
