U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller dismissed a lawsuit by six egg-producing states to overturn a California law that says eggs sold to its citizens can come only from hens given enough room to stand up, lay down, turn around and fully extend their wings. The 2010 law imposes the same standard on eggs imported for sale in California as a 2008 referendum put on the state’s egg farmers.
The states of Missouri, Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska and Oklahoma said the 2010 law was an unconstitutional violation of interstate commerce and usurped the supremacy of federal law. They estimated a cost of $120 million to remodel laying houses to meet California standards and said the state unfairly was imposing burdens on farmers outside its borders.
In a 25-page ruling, Mueller said the states’ arguments “amount only to generalized grievances on behalf of plaintiffs’ egg farmers and potential injuries the farmers face as a result of the shell egg laws,” rather than a specific harm to the general population. And, she noted, some egg farmers were altering their facilities so the lawsuit did not cover all producers. The judge, based in Sacramento, Calif, concluded the states had no standing to sue and dismissed the case with no option for the states to re-open it.
The Humane Society of the United States, active in campaigns to set California’s standards for treatment of livestock, hailed the decision and said it showed the argument of unfair state standards “is totally without merit.”
Rep Steve King of Iowa, the No 1 egg state, tried unsuccessfully to use the new farm policy law to nullify the California law. Senators refused to allow King’s amendment. The attempt set out arguments about the power of states to set safety and labeling standards.