SCOTUS to Consider Whether Seizure of Raisins Is a Constitutional Taking

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari to a coalition of California
raisin growers that challenged a federal rule requiring them to give a portion
of their annual harvests to a crop-specific committee that in turn sells the
reserves for export or donates them to school lunch programs or foreign
governments. Horne v. USDA, No. 14-275 (U.S., certiorari granted January 16,
2015). The coalition contends that the portion of the harvest that its growers
set aside constitutes a taking under the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees
just compensation for such acts. They assert that for the 2002-2003 season,
they were required to set aside 47 percent of their raisin crops, and the named
plaintiffs were paid less than the cost of production; in the 2003-2004 season,
they allegedly set aside 30 percent and were not paid at all. The coalition
argues that, in a split from other circuits, the Ninth Circuit erred in holding
that the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment does not apply to personal
property.

Issue 552