Supreme Court Takes Up NPPC, AFBF Challenge to Proposition 12

The Supreme Court of the United States announced on March 28 that it will take up the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) challenge to California’s Proposition 12. The case is expected to be argued after the court begins its new term in October.

“We are extremely pleased that the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Proposition 12, in which California seeks to impose regulations targeting farming practices outside its borders that would stifle interstate and international commerce,” NPPC President Terry Wolters said in a release. “NPPC has poured a lot of blood, sweat and tears into preserving the rights of America’s pork producers to raise hogs in a way that’s best for their animals’ well-being and that allows them to continue selling pork to all consumers, both here and internationally.” 

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 said.

The high court is taking up the case on appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which in July upheld a lower court ruling against the NPPC-AFBF lawsuit, NPPC explained in a release. The appeals court found that despite the organizations plausibly alleging that Prop. 12 “will have dramatic upstream effects and require pervasive changes to the pork industry nationwide,” 9th Circuit precedent didn’t allow the case to continue. That precedent, however, runs counter to numerous Supreme Court decisions and is in conflict with nearly every other federal circuit court. 

Proposition 12, approved by voters in 2018 and took effect Jan. 1, 2022, makes it illegal to sell pork in California unless the pig it comes from was born to a sow housed with at least 24 square feet of space and in conditions that allow the sow to turn around freely without touching her enclosure. It applies to any uncooked pork sold in the state, whether produced there or outside its borders. Nearly all pork currently produced in the United States fails to meet California’s arbitrary standards. (Business groups in California recently got a state superior court to delay the effective date of Proposition 12 for 180 days after final implementing regulations are issued.) 

“AFBF is pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision to consider the constitutionality of California’s law imposing arbitrary requirements on farmers well outside its borders. We share California’s goal of ensuring animals are well cared for, but Prop 12 fails to advance that goal,” AFBF president Zippy Duvall said in a release. “We look forward to presenting the facts to the Court, including how Prop 12 hamstrings farmers’ efforts to provide a safe environment for their animals, while harming small family farms and raising pork prices across the country. One state’s misguided law should not dictate farming practices for an entire nation.”

In addition to its legal efforts, NPPC weighed in on problems with the initial proposal implementing regulations for Prop 12, including an unworkable annual certification of hog farms’ compliance with the initiative’s requirements. The California Department of Food and Agriculture, which wrote the regulations, has yet to issue final rules, NPPC said in a release. 

“It requires massive and costly alteration to existing sow housing nationwide, necessitates either reduction of herd sizes or building of new facilities to meet its space mandates, raises prices in transactions with no California connection, drives farms out of business, and promotes industry consolidation, and will be policed by intrusive inspections of out-of-state farms conducted by California’s agents,” NPPC and AFBF said in their appeal. 

NPPC and AFBF in the coming weeks will file their initial brief with the Supreme Court, which could hear oral arguments in the fall and could render a decision by the end of the year.

“This is important to the pork industry today, but it is broader than just Proposition 12,” Bryan Humphreys, NPPC CEO, said last month. 

More from Farm Journal's PORK:

The Wait Continues for SCOTUS Decision on Prop 12 Petition

State Court Halts Enforcement of Prop 12, California Must Finalize Rules First

Prop 12 Countdown: California Food Industry Leaders Fight Back