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CapitalPress.com
Friday, August 19, 2022
Harvard law program supports California Prop 12
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Harvard Law School’s
Animal Law & Policy Clinic
has joined the battle over Cal-
ifornia’s Proposition 12 in the
U.S. Supreme Court.
The clinic’s attorneys fi led
an amicus brief in support of
Prop 12 Monday on behalf
of a coalition of animal pro-
tection organizations and law
professors.
The Supreme Court is
scheduled to hear arguments
on Oct. 11.
Approved by California
voters in 2018, Prop 12 estab-
lishes minimum space require-
ments for breeding pigs, calves
raised for veal and egg-laying
hens within the state. It also
bans the sale of pork, veal and
eggs from animals raised else-
where if their living condi-
tions don’t meet California’s
standards.
National Pork Produc-
ers Council and Ameri-
can Farm Bureau Federation
sued the California Depart-
ment of Food and Agricul-
ture in December 2019 on the
grounds that Prop 12 violates
the U.S. Constitution’s com-
merce clause in banning the
sale of out-of-state pork from
animals confi ned in a manner
inconsistent with California
standards.
The U.S. District Court for
Southern California dismissed
the case in April 2020.
In the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, the petition-
ers argued the measure com-
pels out-of-state producers
to change their operations to
meet California’s standards,
impermissibly
regulating
extraterritorial conduct outside
the state’s borders.
In July 2021, the court dis-
agreed, saying Prop 12 does
not dictate the price of prod-
ucts and does not tie the price
of in-state products to out-of-
state prices and does not vio-
late the underlying principles
of the commerce clause.
In its brief, Harvard’s clinic
argued the Court of Appeals
correctly held that Prop 12
does not burden interstate
commerce and, moreover,
the petitioners failed to ade-
quately state a claim regarding
the economic burden actually
imposed by the initiative.
“Petitioners’ argument is
premised on the erroneous
assertion that the initiative
‘eff ectively’ requires group
housing. However, although
Pork Producers can opt to use
group housing as a means of
satisfying the initiative, they
can also satisfy the conditions
of the initiative by using larger
stalls,” the brief stated.
Their complaint fails to
allege that this option would
cause them undue economic
harm that is “excessive” in
relation to the local benefi ts
conferred by the initiative, it
said.
“Proposition 12 also con-
fers important local bene-
fi ts, long recognized as fall-
ing within the purview of state
regulation — the protection
of the public health and mor-
als by prohibiting the in-state
sale of products produced via
cruel confi nement practices,”
the brief said.
The initiative ensures that
California residents, who
overwhelmingly voted for this
legislation, are not complicit in
the production of meat prod-
ucts by “cruel” means, and
that those Californians who
wish to consume pork can
do so without contributing to
such “cruelty,” it said.
“Contrary to the allega-
tions made in petitioners’
complaint, the confi nement
practices prohibited by Prop-
osition 12 are demonstra-
bly cruel and inhumane with
highly detrimental impacts on
the physical and psychological
welfare of female pigs,” the
brief said.
In a press release, Rebecca
Garverman, an attorney and
clinical fellow at Harvard, said
Prop 12 addresses practices
that condemn a pregnant pig
to spend most of her reproduc-
tive life in a tiny crate.
“Our brief illustrates the
cruelty and inhumanity of this
kind of confi nement with pho-
tographic and videographic
evidence of pigs suff ering in
these horrifi c gestation crates,”
she said.
Ruling says USDA’s farm tracking data protected from public disclosure
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
The USDA’s tracking informa-
tion for farms receiving fi nancial
assistance is exempt from public dis-
closure under the Freedom of Infor-
mation Act, according to a federal
appeals court.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit has ruled that USDA
isn’t required to divulge the num-
bers it assigns to farms, operators and
tracts enrolled in federal agriculture
programs.
Such information could be used to
deduce an individual farmer’s fi nan-
cial situation, which would “inter-
fere with personal privacy” enough to
“trigger the exemption” to FOIA, the
appellate court said.
“The release of customer numbers
would impact a substantial privacy
interest,” the ruling said. “The USDA
uses customer numbers in records
Capital Press File
A federal appeals court has ruled that USDA’s tracking information for
farmers enrolled in assistance programs is protected from public disclo-
sure.
on land sales, business relationships,
crops planted and the programs in
which owners are participating.”
Telematch, an agribusiness mar-
keting fi rm that commonly does busi-
ness as Farm Market iD, sought the
USDA’s records to better sell seeds,
pesticides, fertilizers and other inputs.
The USDA denied that request and
its decision was affi rmed by a federal
judge in 2020.
On appeal, the company argued
that numbers used to track the loca-
tions of farms and tracts don’t qualify
as “geospatial information” that Con-
gress has exempted from FOIA.
According to Telematch, the
exemption only applies to geographic
map imagery that reveals land char-
acteristics. The company cited vari-
ous defi nitions of “geospatial infor-
mation” found in federal statutes,
USDA documents and Wikipedia.
However, the appellate court said
those defi nitions don’t bear directly
on the FOIA exemption and don’t
necessarily exclude farm and tract
numbers. For example, farm and tract
numbers could fall under the fed-
eral defi nitions cited by Telematch,
since they’re “tied to a location on the
Earth” and “identify the location and
boundaries of areas of land,” the rul-
ing said.
Meanwhile, the ordinary mean-
ing of “geospatial information,” as
defi ned by the dictionary and other
sources, includes such farm and ranch
numbers, according to the appellate
court.
The customer numbers assigned
to farm operators are also exempt
from FOIA disclosure, even though
they generally don’t directly identify
individuals, the ruling said.
Such numbers can still be “used
to ascertain their identities” based
on information previously released
by USDA that’s easily found online,
the ruling said. “Release of further
records containing customer num-
bers thus would allow the public to
learn more about the corresponding
farm owners.”
Telematch argued the customer
numbers would help the public
ensure that USDA is accurately cal-
culating subsidies and benefi ts for
farmers.
The appellate court acknowl-
edged that it found this argument
persuasive in a 2008 ruling, which
determined the public interest out-
weighed the threat to farmers’
privacy.
Since then, though, a provision
passed by Congress in the 2008
Farm Bill “substantially changes
our analysis of both sides of the bal-
ance,” the appellate court said.
6 Important Farm Safety Tips
By Lauren Denton
www.iokamarketing.com
Silverton, Oregon
Proud
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National Farm Safety and Health Week is recognized every year during the third week in September,
However, farming hazards are present during any season, and it’s important to know how to spot and
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intentionally coinciding with fall harvest, one of the busiest and most dangerous times of year for farmers.
keep in mind, no matter what your task.
1.Educate yourself. Before you begin, learn all about the mechanics and risks of your specific project. Start
with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), which hosts National Farm Safety and
Health Week. In addition to free webinars, you can find an extensive list of resources on its website.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also has resources dedicated to agricultural operations,
including a page for youth. Treat this like a research paper: Find and note as much information as you can.
2. Stock a first aid kit. And restock, emphasizes Dan Neenan, director of NECAS. Neenan, a trained
paramedic, has developed a farm first aid kit based on the injuries he and his team see most in farming
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and four times the eyewash of standard kits. In some cases, you might want to stock it with additional
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supplies to relieve allergic reactions in an emergency. Your kit should go wherever you go.
3. Check your fire extinguisher. Ideally, test it twice a year. Sometimes it will have power but not
propellant, so make sure to fill it after each use.
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decreasing, ATV/UTV rollovers are increasing. Don’t exceed the weight limits, as that can impact steering
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and braking, and avoid roadways because the tires are created for off-road driving. Wear your helmet
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For more specific farming safety tips, visit NECASag.org.
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