The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear Missouri’s challenge to California’s expanded animal welfare laws, ending the legal dispute over the Golden State’s rigorous humane animal standards. The decision follows a December recommendation from the Department of Justice that the highest court not hear the case and others like it.
Missouri and 12 other states filed a challenge to California’s laws in 2017. The laws require that producers selling eggs in California must comply with the requirements of a successful 2008 California ballot measure that expanded the size of enclosures for egg-laying hens beyond the industry standard.
The law’s opponents have argued that it impedes interstate commerce and has raised the price of eggs. In their December recommendation, top officials at the Department of Justice wrote that this logic didn’t hold because it is unclear what material harms have been caused to other states by California’s legislation. The officials found that Missouri’s challenge should not rise to the level of intervention from the Supreme Court.
SCOTUS also decided not to hear a challenge from Indiana to Massachusetts’ animal welfare laws for egg-producing hens, and will not take up a challenge to California’s foie gras ban.