Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 2/15/18


The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) in Washington, D.C., has filed amicus briefs in two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court involving state limits on food products sold based on animal care, the group said in a news release.

Both cases — Missouri, et al. v. California and Indiana, et al. v. Massachusetts — push back on state laws in California and Massachusetts that limits the types of meat and eggs that can be raised or sold within their borders.

In 2015, California required that egg-laying hens farmed in the state be kept in cages in which they could move around freely, or not in cages at all. In 2016, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot measure that bans the sale of eggs, pork, and veal from animals kept in too-small quarters, regardless of the state of origin, within its borders beginning in 2022.

In the cases before the Supreme Court, 13 states are challenging those states’ restrictions. The Court is deciding whether it will hear the arguments.

CCF’s brief asserts the restrictions are unconstitutional overreaches that seek to dictate how farmers in other states care for their animals. Unlike other litigation that must work its way through lower courts, the Supreme Court can directly hear lawsuits between states.

The brief also argues that the interstate commerce clause, which makes the federal government the arbiter of commerce between states, is an issue in this case.

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