Cert grant in slaughter preemption case

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted cert in National Meat Association v. Harris, a preemption case with an animal-law angle. Slaughterhouses challenged a California law that, per HSUS, "prevents the slaughter or abuse of animals too sick, diseased, or injured to stand and walk on their own." This extremely moderate measure was too much for Big Abbattoir (Big Meat? Big Death?) to deal with, so it sued. As noted, the Ninth Circuit overturned a preliminary injunction in a decision rife with bad puns. Preemption gurus will no doubt weigh in with more considered opinions but I wouldn't be surprised if the Supreme Court swallows the industry's ridiculous claim that regulation (instead of slaughterhouse practices) raises a "risk of dangerous consequences for animal and public health."

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[Constitutional Accountability Center]

Constitutional Accountability Center has filed a friend of the court brief in this case supporting the state of California's anti-cruelty law and has written a blog post on this issue: "Occupy the Barnyard: Meat Industry Asks Supreme Court to Help Crush Anti-Cruelty Law" here: http://theusconstitution.org/blog.history/?p=3207