Paper
Moumita Saha Natasha
Professor Dove
Business Law
29th April, 2014
California Egg Law and the Dormant Commerce Clause
In 2008, California voters approved Proposition 2, a ballot measure that increased the standards for egg-layers, providing that such chickens must have enough space to spread their wings without touching another chicken, and be able to stand up, turn around and lie down. Animal producers in California, however, complained that because they couldn’t stuff as many birds into the same space, they are at an economic disadvantage when competing with out-of-state producers selling in California. In response, the state legislature passed a law requiring that all eggs sold in California be held to the same standards required under Proposition 2. The law will take effect in 2015 and California will no longer permit gestation crates for pigs, veal crates, or battery cages for hens. Starting in the year 2015, out-of-state egg producers will either be unable to send eggs to California, or they will have to make large capital investments in order to supply part of the 180 million dozen eggs California annually imports from the rest of the country.
Missouri being one of the largest exporters of eggs in California filed a lawsuit in February 2014 to block the California law, and officials representing Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Alabama joined it few days later. These states have big agriculture sectors, and officials here argue that the California Egg Law violates the principle of Interstate Commerce and California has no legal right to enforce its law on other states. This law, if enforced, would cost millions of dollars to the farmers if they need to build their hen houses in compliance to the California regulations.
According to the states that filed the lawsuit, California is violating the "Dormant" Commerce Clause, also known as the "Negative" Commerce Clause, which is a legal principle that courts in the United States have inferred from the
Professor Dove
Business Law
29th April, 2014
California Egg Law and the Dormant Commerce Clause
In 2008, California voters approved Proposition 2, a ballot measure that increased the standards for egg-layers, providing that such chickens must have enough space to spread their wings without touching another chicken, and be able to stand up, turn around and lie down. Animal producers in California, however, complained that because they couldn’t stuff as many birds into the same space, they are at an economic disadvantage when competing with out-of-state producers selling in California. In response, the state legislature passed a law requiring that all eggs sold in California be held to the same standards required under Proposition 2. The law will take effect in 2015 and California will no longer permit gestation crates for pigs, veal crates, or battery cages for hens. Starting in the year 2015, out-of-state egg producers will either be unable to send eggs to California, or they will have to make large capital investments in order to supply part of the 180 million dozen eggs California annually imports from the rest of the country.
Missouri being one of the largest exporters of eggs in California filed a lawsuit in February 2014 to block the California law, and officials representing Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Alabama joined it few days later. These states have big agriculture sectors, and officials here argue that the California Egg Law violates the principle of Interstate Commerce and California has no legal right to enforce its law on other states. This law, if enforced, would cost millions of dollars to the farmers if they need to build their hen houses in compliance to the California regulations.
According to the states that filed the lawsuit, California is violating the "Dormant" Commerce Clause, also known as the "Negative" Commerce Clause, which is a legal principle that courts in the United States have inferred from the