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California voters enacted Proposition 12 in 2018 in an effort to prevent animal cruelty.
A decision in the case isn’t likely before next year.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared willing to allow litigation to continue over a California law aimed at ensuring pigs can turn around in their pens, a case with implications for one state’s ability to regulate the industries of another.
California voters enacted Proposition 12 in 2018 in an effort to prevent animal cruelty. The law bans the sale of bacon, chops and other pork products in the most populous state unless the sow from which it was born was housed in at least 24 square feet of floorspace – a standard that industry officials acknowledge virtually no farms can meet.
While Californians account for 13% of the nation’s pork consumption, the state is home to few pig farms. That means the cost of complying with Proposition 12 would fall mainly to out-of-state farmers, many of which are based in the Midwest. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has described California’s mandate as a „war on breakfast.“
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Several of the justices asked probing questions of both sides during more than two hours of argument and the underlying questions appeared to split traditional conservative and liberal alliances. But there seemed to be agreement among a majority of the court that the case could go back to a lower court for further review.
