On January 23, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down a California law that bans the processing of all non-ambulatory livestock. The California statute, enacted in 2008, would have required the immediate euthanasia of non-ambulatory animals, including hogs, at the slaughterhouse.
The National Meat Association (NMA) challenged the state law before the U.S. District Court in California. The lawsuit was later appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on the argument that the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) preempts California law. The high court agreed with NMA in a ruling that the FMIA expressly preempts the application of this law to federally inspected slaughterhouses. National Meat Association v. Harris, No. 10-224.
Faegre Baker Daniels attorney Lance W. Lange filed an amicus brief for the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, the National Pork Producers Council and the National Farmers Union in the Harris case. Read more.
