Prof. McConnell is one of the top constitutional law scholars in the country, and I was delighted that he passed along this item on National Pork Producers Council v. Ross. (Disclosure: He participated in drafting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce amicus brief in the case, but the views expressed here are his own, not those of the Chamber.)
National Pork Producers Council v. Ross may be one of the most consequential cases of the Term, and I don't just mean for the price of pork chops. A few states, most importantly California, are such large markets that—if the Supreme Court does not intervene—they can impose their notions of proper standards of production on every other state in the Union, at little cost to themselves. Because nationwide producers often cannot segment their markets, producers will be forced to follow California rules for the whole country, or face the crippling consequence of exclusion from the California market.
Add to this the fact that these large states—California, Texas, New York—are also one-party states, whose views on social policy are often at one or another extreme. More moderate Americans in other states will be governed by laws they would not vote for, if they had a chance. This is contrary to the democratic postulates of our federal system.
Californians consume 13 percent of all pork produced in the United States, but California farmers produce almost none of it (0.13 percent of breeding pigs, to be exact). But California voters have strong views on the ethical treatment of pigs, at least when other people pay the cost. In 2018, California voters passed Proposition 12, which allows the sale in California only of pork produced under specified conditions far more costly than currently are practiced anywhere else. California regulators will roam the land inspecting farms in other states to enforce the law.
For Californians, this was cheap and easy virtue signaling. Almost no California farmers are affected, yet prices will go up everywhere.
