In a posting a few days ago, I discussed the Nat'l Pork Producers' Council v. Ross case now before the Supreme Court, in which the NPPC is challenging, on "dormant commerce clause" grounds, a California law that makes it unlawful to sell pork in CA if the seller knows (or should know) that the meat came from a breeding pig that was confined "in a cruel manner" (as defined in the statute).
The NPPC has two main arguments, the most prominent being that the law represents improper "extra-territorial" law-making, inasmuch as it amounts, in effect, to compelling out-of-state pork breeders to change their business practices. As I discussed in the earlier post, I would be surprised if the Court adopts this tack.
Their second argument, which I admitted had me scratching my head, is that the law imposes, in NPPC's words, "excessive burdens on interstate commerce without advancing any legitimate local interest." California's "philosophical preferences about conduct occurring almost entirely outside California," and its "desire to prevent what California considers animal cruelty that is occurring entirely outside the State's borders," cannot justify the burdens imposed on pork producers nationwide.
