Animal activist offers the rest of the story on challenges to Question 3 and Prop 12

As the CEO of Animal Wellness Action (AWA) and the Center for a Humane Economy (CHE) Wayne Pacelle frequently gains intervenor status in federal court cases, such as those involving California’s Proposition 12.  Outside the courtroom, Pacelle, in some ways, takes on the role of the late, legendary radio storyteller Paul Harvey, ensuring that “the rest of the story” gets out.

Prop 12 and the similar Massachusetts Question 3 are controversial and amassing a court history because they prohibit the sale of certain chicken and pork products in their states from producers who do not meet their housing standards. 

In the recent filing against Prop 12 by pork producer Triumph Foods, the “spin” by the farmer-owned company is that it is bringing new arguments from its success against Massachusetts Question 3

“I am not sure how Triumph Foods is framing its failures in federal court as a success, but here’s our read-out on the legal proceedings so far,” Pacelle said in an email to Food Safety News. 

“Triumph brought 10 claims in its action against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in seeking to overturn Question 3. Nine of those counts were dismissed outright by the court. The remaining count under the dormant Commerce Clause was mostly disposed of by the court on summary judgment motions, with the only remaining issue being whether the ‘slaughterhouse exception’ contained in Question 3 violated the dormant Commerce Clause. 

“This provision exempted the sale of pork from in-state FMIA-inspected pork processors from the prohibition on sales in the state,”  he continued.  “The court found that this one narrow provision was discriminatory and in violation of the dCC. But the striking down of that single provision, in fact, broadened the prohibition on sales of cruelly confined pork in the state and made Question 3 even more effective. Triumph’s effort, ironically, was a win for the large percentage of Massachusetts voters who voted Yes on Question 3 to bring more humane standards to the pork industry.

“California’s Proposition 12 does not have any comparable slaughterhouse exception. It prohibits the sale in California of pork from animals confined in a manner inconsistent with its minimum space requirements, regardless of whether the pork is slaughtered in-state or out-of-state. There’s no carve-out for California slaughterhouses as there was in Massachusetts under Question 3. Triumph appealed this ruling, and that’s not the action of a plaintiff who “won” the case,” Pacelle added.

Pacelle explained that this was why he had a “quibble” with the first Food Safety News report on Triumph’s Prop 12 lawsuit, which left the impression its Question 3 challenge was entirely successful.

AWA and CHE were recently granted intervenor status in USDA’s federal court challenge to Prop 12, which is separate from Triumph’s action.  Pacelle was present for the drafting of Prop 12, and since its overwhelming adoption by California voters in 2018, nearly half of the nation’s egg producers have adopted cage-free housing. 

Egg producers have spent billions converting from the battery cage systems, and in a sign they don’t want to go back, the Association of California Egg Farmers is also seeking to become intervenors in the case in support of Prop 12.

The USDA case involves Prop 12’s egg provisions. The Triumph case addresses pork.  Previous challenges to Prop 12 have not been successful.  The U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the Iowa Pork Producers Association’s  Prop 12 lawsuit for the 9th Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court would not take up the case.

 Pacelle has been a leading animal activist for 35 years, beginning as a student-advocate for animals at Yale.  He is credited with making Question 3 and the Prop 12 law.

His best-selling books are The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them, and The Humane Economy: How Innovators and Enlightened Consumers Are Transforming the Lives of Animals. He currently serves as president of both Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy.

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