Skeptical High Court Could Doom California Downer Livestock Law

Following oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court on the validity of a
California law that prohibits slaughterhouses from receiving, processing or
selling nonambulatory animals, court watchers are predicting that the law will
not survive the National Meat Association’s preemption challenge. Nat’l Meat
Ass’n v. Harris, No. 10-224 (U.S., argued November 9, 2011).

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law, finding that the states may regulate “what kinds of animals may be slaughtered,” despite express preemption language in the Federal Meat Inspection Act. Additional information about the Ninth Circuit’s ruling appears in Issue 344 of this Update.

According to news sources, the justices did not appear to accept the fine
distinction adopted by the lower court. Under the federal law, federal inspectors
are authorized to decide what to do with animals that cannot walk when
they reach the slaughterhouse; in some cases, they determine that animals
may be revived and slaughtered, and, in others, the inspectors order that
animals be kept alive so they can be tested for contagious diseases. The state
law is absolute; it requires immediate euthanasia of “downer” animals and bars
their slaughter or sale.

Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly said, “When the federal law says you can (sell meat), that pre-empts the rule from the states that says you can’t.” Justice Stephen Breyer opined that the state law appeared to impose an “additional requirement (on) a federally inspected meat-packing facility.” A ruling is expected before the end of the Court’s current term, which concludes in June 2012. See The Washington Post, The New York Times and Law360, November 9, 2011; San Francisco Chronicle, November 10, 2011.