High Court to Hear Case Against California鈥檚 Prop 12
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation against California鈥檚 Proposition 12, which bans the sale of pork from hogs born to sows that weren鈥檛 raised according to the state鈥檚 鈥渁rbitrary鈥 production standards.
鈥淲e are extremely pleased that the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Prop 12, in which California seeks to impose regulations targeting farming practices outside its borders that would stifle interstate and international commerce,鈥 said NPPC President Terry Wolters.
NPPC has waged a legal battle against the ballot initiative since it was approved in November 2018, arguing at the U.S. district and appellate court levels that Prop. 12 violates the Constitution鈥檚 Commerce Clause, which grants Congress the power to regulate trade among the states and limits the ability of states to regulate commerce outside their borders.
Prop. 12, which took effect Jan. 1, 2022, prohibits, in California, the sale of pork from hogs whose mothers were raised in pens 鈥 anywhere in the world 鈥 that do not comply with the state鈥檚 highly prescriptive housing standards. 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鈥檚 arbitrary standards. s