The National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation are appealing a lower court's decision to throw out their lawsuit seeking to invalidate a 2018 ballot initiative passed by voters barring sales in California of pork, veal and eggs from animals whose confinement failed to meet minimum space requirements.
"If you're looking for an example of an unconstitutional law, this is it," said Michael Formica, chief legal strategist for the pork producers. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's decision to throw out the lawsuit, finding no Commerce Clause violation.
. They wrote that a ruling endorsing the industry's Commerce Clause position "could allow large, multi-state corporations to evade numerous state laws that focus on harms to their constituents, including those addressing wildlife trafficking, climate change, renewable energy, stolen property trafficking and labor abuses."