High Court Backs California Humane-Pork Law in Industry Loss (2)
The US Supreme Court upheld California s new humane-pork law, rejecting an industry challenge in a ruling buttressing the power of states to impose rules that have a broad economic impact on other parts of the country.
The ruling could force pork producers to implement costly changes to keep selling in the country s most populous state. The industry argued unsuccessfully that California is violating the Constitution by regulating commerce outside its borders.
Writing for the court, Justice
Neil Gorsuch said the pork industry would have us cast aside caution for boldness by intervening where Congress had declined to act. He said producers have failed repeatedly to persuade Congress to use its express Commerce Clause authority to adopt a uniform rule for pork production.
Pigs are treated horribly by many abattoirs. They’re intelligent animals, evidently smarter than dogs. Horror stories abound about about how they are closely confined, basically reduced to the level of machines to pop out piglets or made unable to move to make more meat. At our house, LWJ buys only “ethical” pork, or says she does. This law will make the cost of pork go up, possibly by a lot. I don’t know how nice you have to be to a hog before you judge it ethically ok to kill and eat it, but it has to be nicer than we are now.