Supreme Court to hear California Prop. 12 case

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case challenging California Proposition 12. The California law was passed by voters in November 2018 and backed by the Humane Society. The law, called Proposition 12, requires breeding pigs to be able to lie down and turn around in spaces in which they are housed, essentially outlawing pork produced using small gestation stalls in most circumstances. Farm groups, including the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), are seeking to overturn the law that also bans the sale of pork from hogs that don’t meet the state’s production standards, even if the pork was raised on farms outside of California. Nearly all pork currently produced in the United States fails to meet California’s standards.

In the coming weeks, NPPC and AFBF 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. NPPC started the legal battle against the ballot initiative since it was approved, arguing at the U.S. district and appellate court levels that Prop. 12 violates the Constitution’s 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. The high court is taking up the case on appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which in July 2021 upheld a lower court ruling against the NPPC-AFBF lawsuit.

“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,” said NPPC President Terry Wolters. 

Meanwhile, Prop. 12 supporters think the Supreme Court will uphold the law.

"We are confident the Supreme Court will uphold California's landmark farm animal protection law,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. “The Court has repeatedly affirmed the states' rights to enact laws protecting animals, public health and safety, and the pork industry should focus on eliminating cruel caging of animals rather than attacking popular, voter-passed animal cruelty laws."