The Supreme Court upheld a California law that bars the sale of pork produced in other states unless the sow was housed in conditions that allowed her to move freely.
The law was the brainchild of animal rights activists in the state, who worked for its passage saying it was necessary to reduce disease from crowded conditions. But the National Pork Producers Council brought a constitutional challenge to the law, arguing that it impermissibly regulates commerce between the states, because nearly all pork production occurs outside of California.
The decision of the court was 5-4, though there was some disagreement among the justices in the majority on the reasons why the California law should be upheld.
“While the Constitution addresses many weighty issues, the type of pork chops California merchants may sell is not on that list,” said Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the holding.
At issue is Proposition 12 – a California law that bans the sale of pork meat, no matter where it is produced, in the state – unless the pig at issue was born to a sow that was housed with 24 square feet of space and in conditions that allowed her to move freely. Under the law, which has yet to take effect, every sale of covered pork in California that does not meet such standards is considered a crime punishable by a $1,000 fine or a 180-day prison sentence.
The case raised questions regarding not only the issue of animal cruelty but whether one state could regulate another state’s production of pork and impose thousands of dollars of charges on pig farmers. While the state said the law was necessary so that Californians wouldn’t feel complicit in animal cruelty, pork producers said the law would burden interstate commerce in violation…
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