Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-468_5if6.pdf
Page Number: 11.0

Cite as:  598 U. S. ____ (2023) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

industry has already converted to some form of group hous-
ing for pregnant pigs.  Id., at 186a.  But, petitioners cau-
tioned, even some farmers who already raise group-housed 
pigs will have to modify their practices if they wish to com-
ply with Proposition 12.  Id., at 208a–209a.  Much of pork 
production today is vertically integrated, too, with farmers 
selling  pigs  to  large  processing  firms  that  turn  them  into
different  “cuts  of  meat”  and  distribute  the  “different 
parts  . . . all over to completely different end users.”  Id., at 
334a–335a.  Revising  this  system  to  segregate  and  trace
Proposition 12-compliant pork, petitioners alleged, will re-
quire certain processing firms to make substantial new cap-
ital investments.  Id., at 205a–206a.  Ultimately, petition-
ers  estimated  that  “compliance  with  Proposition  12  will
increase production costs” by “9.2% . . . at the farm level.” 
Id., at 214a.  These compliance costs will fall on California
and out-of-state producers alike.  Ibid.  But because Cali-
fornia imports almost all the pork it consumes, petitioners
emphasized, “the majority” of Proposition 12’s compliance
costs will be initially borne by out-of-state firms.  Ibid. 

After  considerable  motions  practice,  the  district  court
held that petitioners’ complaint failed to state a claim as a 
matter of law and dismissed the case.  456 F. Supp. 3d 1201 
(SD Cal. 2020).  With Judge Ikuta writing for a unanimous
panel,  the  Ninth  Circuit  affirmed.    6  F. 4th  1021  (2021). 
Following that ruling, petitioners sought certiorari and we 
agreed to consider the complaint’s legal sufficiency for our-
selves.  596 U. S. ___ (2022). 

II 
The Constitution vests Congress with the power to “reg-
ulate Commerce . . . among the several States.”  Art. I, §8, 
cl. 3.  Everyone agrees that Congress may seek to exercise
this power to regulate the interstate trade of pork, much as
it has done with various other products.  Everyone agrees, 
too, that congressional enactments may preempt conflicting