By Matt Bernardini
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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals demonstrate outside the Supreme Court on Thursday after the court rejected a challenge to a California law that bans the sale of pork that comes from breeding pigs in small spaces.
May 11 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to a California law that bans the sale of pork that comes from breeding pigs in small spaces.
The law, called Proposition 12, was approved by California voters in 2018 and bans the sale in California of eggs, pork and veal from facilities that confine animals in small cages.
Thursday the Supreme Court said that it did not unlawfully regulate pork produced in other states, as a group of farm interests had claimed. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, saying that the pork producers were seeking to have the court impose restrictions on the ability of states to regulate goods sold within their borders.
"While the Constitution addresses many weighty issues, the type of pork chops California merchants may sell is not on that list," Gorsuch said.
The Humane Society of the United States, which had intervened to support California, applauded Thursday's decision.
"Today's news demonstrates loud and clear that the future is cage-free," Sara Amundson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, said in a statement.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals demonstrate outside the Supreme Court on Thursday after the court rejected a challenge to a California law that bans the sale of pork that comes from breeding pigs in small spaces. The law, called Proposition 12, was approved by California voters in 2018 and bans the sale in California of eggs, pork and veal from facilities that confine animals in small cages.
The National Pork Producers Council, which represents the pork industry, and the American Farm Bureau Federation, which represents farming interests, sued California in 2019, saying the law violates the commerce clause. They argued that the state's law interferes with interstate commerce because much of the pork sold in California is produced elsewhere.
"We are very disappointed with the Supreme Court's opinion. Allowing state overreach will increase prices for consumers and drive small farms out of business, leading to more consolidation," Scott Hays, president of the National Pork Producers Council, said in a statement according to NBC News.
The other justices in the majority were Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
"We are very disappointed with the Supreme Court's opinion. Allowing state overreach will increase prices for consumers and drive small farms out of business, leading to more consolidation," Scott Hays, president of the National Pork Producers Council, said in a statement according to NBC News.
The other justices in the majority were Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
Ingrid Newkirk, President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, demonstrates outside the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Photos by Leigh Vogel/UPI | License Photo
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