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2 

NATIONAL PORK PRODUCERS COUNCIL v. ROSS 

Opinion of the Court 

discriminate purposefully against out-of-state economic in-
terests.  But the pork producers do not suggest that Califor-
nia’s law offends this principle.  Instead, they invite us to
fashion  two  new  and  more  aggressive  constitutional  re-
strictions  on  the  ability  of  States  to  regulate  goods  sold
within their borders.  We decline that invitation.  While the 
Constitution  addresses  many  weighty  issues,  the  type  of
pork chops California merchants may sell is not on that list. 

I 
Modern American grocery stores offer a dizzying array of
choice.  Often, consumers may choose among eggs that are
large,  medium,  or  small;  eggs  that  are  white,  brown,  or 
some  other  color;  eggs  from  cage-free  chickens  or  ones 
raised consistent with organic farming standards.  When it 
comes  to  meat  and  fish,  the  options  are  no  less  plentiful.
Products  may  be  marketed  as  free  range,  wild  caught,  or
graded by quality (prime, choice, select, and beyond).  The 
pork 
sometimes 
come with “antibiotic-free” and “crate-free” labels.  USDA, 
Report  to  Congress:  Livestock  Mandatory  Reporting 
18 
(2018),  https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/
media/LMR2018ReporttoCongress.pdf.  Much of this prod-
uct differentiation reflects consumer demand, informed by
individual taste, health, or moral considerations. 

issue  here, 

products 

too, 

at 

Informed by similar concerns, States (and their predeces-
sors)  have  long  enacted  laws  aimed  at  protecting  animal 
welfare.  As far back as 1641, the Massachusetts Bay Col-
ony  prohibited  “Tirranny  or  Crueltie  towards  any  bruite 
Creature.”    Body  of  Liberties  §92,  in  A  Bibliographical
Sketch  of  the  Laws  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  52–53
(1890).  Today,  Massachusetts  prohibits  the  sale  of  pork 
products from breeding pigs (or their offspring) if the breed-
ing  pig  has  been  confined  “in  a  manner  that  prevents  [it] 
from lying down, standing up, fully extending [its] limbs or 
turning  around  freely.”  Mass.  Gen.  Laws  Ann.,  ch.  129,