National Pork Producers Council et al. v. Karen Ross et al.

Issue

This case concerns the constitutionality of the conditions California’s Proposition 12 imposed on pork producers nationwide in order to sell pork in California.

June 17, 2022

The Restaurant Law Center and its co-amici filed a brief in support of the Petitioners, arguing that the Ninth Circuit decision must be overturned as it would unconstitutionally allow a single state to impose massive costs on interstate commerce without a legitimate local public interest. Furthermore, it would unconstitutionally allow a single state to regulate commerce that occurs wholly within other states, interfering with state sovereignty and undermining interstate restaurant supply chains.

May 11, 2023

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) upheld a lower court’s ruling to preserve Calif.’s Prop 12, which prohibits the sale of pork that is not produced according to the state’s production standards. The Restaurant Law Center had argued that Prop 12 unconstitutionally allows a single state to impose massive costs on a multi-state commodity without a legitimate local public interest. Additionally, the RLC argued that Prop 12 undermines the supply chain and will harm restaurants. Unfortunately, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, writing on behalf of the court’s majority, rejected what he called a request by pork producers, restaurants, and others for the court to “fashion 2 new and more aggressive constitutional restrictions on the ability of states to regulate goods sold within their borders.”