Source: https://www.animallaw.info/case/association-des-eleveurs-de-canards-et-doies-du-quebec-v-harris
Timestamp: 2019-03-25 17:54:27+00:00
Document Index: 62470136

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 25982', '§ 25980', '§ 25982', '§ 25981', '§ 25982', '§ 13', '§ 13', '§ 25983', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25981', '§ 25981', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982', '§ 25982']

Association des Eleveurs de Canards et d'Oies du Quebec v. Harris | Animal Legal & Historical Center
Full Case Name: ASSOCIATION DES ELEVEURS DE CANARDS ET D'OIES DU QUEBEC, a Canadian nonprofit corporation; HVFG, LLC, a New York limited liability company; Hots Restaurant Group. Inc., a California corporation, PlaintiffsAppellants, and Gauge Outfitters, Inc., Plaintiff, v. Kamala D. HARRIS, Attorney General; Edmund G. Brown, in his official capacity as Governor of California; the State of California, DefendantsAppellees.
Country of Origin: United States Court Name: United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Primary Citation: 729 F.3d 937 (9th Cir. 2013) Date of Decision: Friday, August 30, 2013 Judge Name: PREGERSON Jurisdiction Level: Federal Alternate Citation: 13 Cal. Daily Op. Serv, 2013 WL 4615131 (9th Cir. 2013) Judges: HARRY PREGERSON and RAYMOND C. FISHER and WILEY Y. DANIEL Circuit Judges Senior District Judge. Attorneys: Michael Tenenbaum (argued), The Tenenbaum Law Firm, Santa Monica, California, for PlaintiffsAppellants. Stephanie F. Zook (argued), Deputy Attorney General; Constance L. LeLouis, Supervising Deputy Attorney General; Douglas J. Woods, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General of California, Sacramento, California, for DefendantsAppellees. Melissa Grant, (argued) and Arnab Banerjee, Capstone Law APC, Los Angeles, California; Tiffany Hedgpeth, Jeremy Esterkin, and Bryce Woolley, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Amici Curiae. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Stephen V. Wilson, District Judge, Presiding. Docket Num: No. 1256822
*2 The statutory provision Plaintiffs seek to enjoin, § 25982, is within the statute entitled “Force Fed Birds.” Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 25980 et seq. Section 25982 states: “A product may not be sold in California if it is the result of force feeding a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird's liver beyond normal size.” Id. § 25982. Section 25981 further provides: “A person may not force feed a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird's liver beyond normal size, or hire another person to do so.” Id. § 25981.[FN1]
An exception under Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908), however, allows citizens to sue state officers in their official capacities “for prospective declaratory or injunctive relief ... for their alleged violations of federal law.” Coal. to Defend Affirmative Action, 674 F.3d at 1134. The state official “ ‘must have some connection with the enforcement of the act.’ ” Id. (quoting Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. at 157). That connection “must be fairly direct; a generalized duty to enforce state law or general supervisory power over the persons responsible for enforcing the challenged provision will not subject an official to suit.” Id. (quoting L.A. Cnty. Bar Ass'n v. Eu, 979 F.2d 697, 704 (9th Cir.1992)).
*3 Here, Governor Brown is entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity because his only connection to § 25982 is his general duty to enforce California law. See, e.g., Nat'l Audubon Soc'y, Inc. v. Davis, 307 F.3d 835, 846–47, opinion amended on denial of reh'g, 312 F.3d 416 (9th Cir.2002).
Pursuant to Article V, § 13 of the California Constitution, the Attorney General not only has “direct supervision over every district attorney,” but also has the duty “to prosecute any violations of law ... [and] shall have all the powers of a district attorney,” whenever she believes that the law is not being adequately enforced. Cal. Const. art. V, § 13. The combination of § 25983, which gives district attorneys the authority to prosecute violations of § 25982, and the Attorney General's duty to prosecute as a district attorney establishes sufficient enforcement power for Ex Parte Young. See Coal. to Defend Affirmative Action, 674 F.3d at 1132–35 (affirming the denial of Eleventh Amendment to the President of the University of California because he was “duty-bound” to enforce the challenged statute, which precluded “using race as a criterion in admission decisions”); Nat'l Audubon Soc'y, Inc., 307 F.3d at 842, 847 (affirming the denial of Eleventh Amendment immunity to state official with “direct authority over and principal responsibility for enforcing Proposition 4,” a law “to protect wildlife and domestic pets”).
*4 “We review a district court's grant or denial of a preliminary injunction for abuse of discretion and the underlying legal principles de novo.” DISH Network Corp. v. F.C.C., 653 F.3d 771, 776 (9th Cir.2011). We may reverse the district court “only where [the district court] relied on an erroneous legal premise or abused its discretion.” Id. Further, when we agree with the district court that a plaintiff has failed to show the likelihood of success on the merits, we “need not consider the remaining three [Winter elements].” Id. at 776–77.
Section 25982 states, “[a] product may not be sold in California if it is the result of force feeding a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird's liver beyond normal size.” Cal. Health & Safety Code § 25982 (emphasis added). “The phrase ‘as a result of’ in its plain and ordinary sense means ‘caused by’ and requires a showing of a causal connection ...,” Kwikset Corp. v.Super. Ct., 51 Cal.4th 310, 326, 120 Cal.Rptr.3d 741, 246 P.3d 877 (2011) (quoting Hall v. Time Inc., 158 Cal.App.4th 847, 855, 70 Cal.Rptr.3d 466 (2008)); Troyk v. Farmers Grp., Inc., 171 Cal.App.4th 1305, 1349, 90 Cal.Rptr.3d 589 (2009) (interpreting phrase “as a result of” in statute “according to its common usage,” which means “an element of causation ”). The plain meaning of § 25982 is that it applies only to a product that is produced by force feeding a bird to enlarge its liver.
Although we need not consider the legislative history, it supports our interpretation. The accompanying Bill Analysis for Senate Bill 1520 which proposed the legislation Force Fed Birds, notes that the purpose of “th[e] bill is intended to prohibit the force feeding of ducks and geese ..., Force feeding is the common method used to produce foie gras ..., The Author states that no other livestock product is produced via force feeding ...,” Sen. Comm. on Bus. & Professions (Cal.2004), Analysis of S.B. 1520 as introduced Apr. 26, 2004, at 4 (emphasis added); Sen. Rules Comm. (Cal.2004), Analysis of S.B. 1520 as amended May 6, 2004, at 5 (same).[FN2] Further, foie gras is the only product produced via force feeding mentioned in the Bill Analyses. Specifically, the Bill Analyses discuss the background of foie gras; countries that have banned force feeding to produce foie gras; grocers who have refused to purchase foie gras; whether there are alternative methods of producing foie gras; and support for, and against, the foie gras industry.[FN3]
*5 We conclude that § 25982 is limited to products that are produced by force feeding a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird's liver beyond normal size; it therefore does not prohibit the sale of duck breasts, down jackets, or other non-liver products from force-fed birds.4 In the district court, Plaintiffs' evidence showed that foie gras was the only product that was produced by force feeding.[FN5] Thus, the only product covered by § 25982 at issue in this appeal is foie gras.
“Whether a statute or regulation is unconstitutionally vague is a question of law reviewed de novo.” United States v. Ninety–Five Firearms, 28 F.3d 940, 941 (9th Cir.1994). “It is well established that vagueness challenges to statutes which do not involve First Amendment freedoms must be examined in the light of the facts of the case at hand.” United States v. Mazurie, 419 U.S. 544, 550, 95 S.Ct. 710, 42 L.Ed.2d 706 (1975). “To be struck down for vagueness, a statute or regulation must fail ‘to give a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice that his contemplated conduct’ is forbidden.” Donovan v. Royal Logging Co., 645 F.2d 822, 831 (9th Cir.1981) (quoting United States v. Dacus, 634 F.2d 441, 444 (9th Cir.1980)). “Economic regulation is subject to ‘a less strict vagueness test’ than criminal laws ...,” Great Am. Houseboat Co. v. United States, 780 F.2d 741, 746 (9th Cir.1986) (quoting Vill. of Hoffman Estates v. Flip–Side Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489, 498, 102 S.Ct. 1186, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982)).
*6 The specific example of force feeding under the statute—feeding a bird using a tube so that the bird will consume more food than it would consume voluntarily—is how Plaintiffs feed their ducks during the gavage stage. Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion when it held that Plaintiffs failed to raise serious questions that, as applied to Plaintiffs, the definition of force feeding is not vague.
Finally, Plaintiffs' description of § 25982 as invidious because it imposes strict liability is without merit. “[C]ivil penalties may be imposed without mens rea requirements because they are indeed civil ...,” Humanitarian Law Project v. U.S. Treasury Dep't, 578 F.3d 1133, 1152 (9th Cir.2009). We therefore conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it concluded that Plaintiffs failed to raise serious questions concerning their Due Process Clause challenge.[FN6]
*7 The Supreme Court has adopted a “two-tiered approach to analyzing state economic regulation under the Commerce Clause.” Brown–Forman Distillers Corp. v. N.Y. State Liquor Auth., 476 U.S. 573, 578–79, 106 S.Ct. 2080, 90 L.Ed.2d 552 (1986).
Id. at 579 (citations omitted).[FN7] The district court did not abuse its discretion when it concluded that § 25982 falls into the second tier because the statute does not discriminate against interstate commerce or directly regulate interstate commerce.
*8 A statute is not “ ‘invalid merely because it affects in some way the flow of commerce between the States.’ ” Nat'l Ass'n of Optometrists, 682 F.3d at 1148 (quoting Great Atl. & Pac. Tea Co. v. Cottrell, 424 U.S. 366, 371, 96 S.Ct. 923, 47 L.Ed.2d 55 (1976)). Instead, a statute violates the dormant Commerce Clause per se when it “directly regulates interstate commerce.” NCAA v. Miller, 10 F.3d 633, 638 (9th Cir.1993) (emphasis added).
Plaintiffs would have us assume, without evidentiary support, that § 25982 amounts to a flat ban on foie gras. Plaintiffs' declarations do not demonstrate that foie gras may be produced only by force feeding. The district court found that “the evidence may [ultimately] show that Section 25982 only precludes a more profitable method of operation—force feeding birds for the purpose of enlarging its liver—rather than affecting the interstate flow of goods.” It may be that Plaintiffs are precluded from using force feeding to produce foie gras, but “the dormant Commerce Clause does not ... guarantee Plaintiffs their preferred method of operation .” Nat'l Ass'n of Optometrists, 682 F.3d at 1151. At this stage in the proceedings, Plaintiffs have not shown that the effect of § 25982 is a complete import and sales ban on foie gras.
*9 Moreover, in Schollenberger the Supreme Court emphasized that Congress actively regulated the industry of oleomargine. 171 U.S. at 8. Congress had “given a definition of the meaning of oleomargarine, and ha[d] imposed a special tax on the manufacturers of the article, on wholesale dealers and upon retail dealers.” Id . at 8. See also Cloverleaf Butter Co. v. Patterson, 315 U.S. 148, 62 S.Ct. 491, 502, 86 L.Ed. 754 (1942) (stating that “[t]he manufacture and distribution ... of process and renovated butter is a substantial industry which, because of its multi-state activity, cannot be effectively regulated by isolated competing states”).
*10 Plaintiffs rely heavily on Healy v. Beer Institute, Inc., 491 U.S. 324, 109 S.Ct. 2491, 105 L.Ed.2d 275 (1989), and Baldwin v. G.A.F. Seelig, Inc., 294 U.S. 511, 55 S.Ct. 497, 79 L.Ed. 1032 (1935), to assert that § 25982's practical effect is to control conduct outside the boundaries of California. In Healy, the Supreme Court struck down Connecticut's statute that “require[d] out-of-state shippers of beer to affirm that their posted prices for products sold to Connecticut wholesalers are, as of the moment of posting, no higher than the prices at which those products are sold in ... bordering States.” 491 U.S. at 326. The Supreme Court concluded that the statute “controll[ed] commercial activity occurring wholly outside the boundary of the State” because it “preclude[d] the alteration of out-of-state prices after the moment of affirmation.” Id. at 337–38. Similarly, in Baldwin, the Supreme Court struck down a New York statute that prohibited the sale of milk within New York if the milk was acquired from Vermont farmers at a lower price than New York farmers would have been paid for the milk. Baldwin, 294 U.S. at 521.
*11 The district court correctly determined that Plaintiffs failed to raise serious questions that § 25982 discriminates or directly regulates interstate commerce. Consequently, the district court properly analyzed, under Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137, 90 S.Ct. 844, 25 L.Ed.2d 174 (1970), whether “the burden [the statute] imposes on interstate commerce is ‘clearly excessive in relation to the putative local benefits.’ ” S.D. Myers, Inc., 253 F.3d at 471 (quoting Pike, 397 U.S. at 142).
*12 Plaintiffs argue on appeal that precluding sales of products produced by force feeding birds “does nothing” to prevent animal cruelty in California. But in the district court, “Plaintiffs ... presented no evidence that Section 25982 is an ineffective means of advancing that goal.” Plaintiffs give us no reason to doubt that the State believed that the sales ban in California may discourage the consumption of products produced by force feeding birds and prevent complicity in a practice that it deemed cruel to animals. Cf. Empacadora de Carnes de Fresnillo, S.A. de C.V., 476 F.3d at 336 (concluding that a state ban on slaughtering and selling horsemeat for human consumption may preserve horses and prevent human consumption of horsemeat because it “remov[es] the significant monetary incentives” in the horsemeat market). “[T]he Supreme Court has frequently admonished that courts should not ‘second-guess the empirical judgments of lawmakers concerning the utility of legislation.’ ” Pac. Nw. Venison Producers, 20 F.3d at 1017 (quoting CTS Corp., 481 U.S. at 92).
13 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9671, 2013 Daily Journal D.A.R. 11,761
* The Honorable Wiley Y. Daniel, Senior District Judge for the U.S. District Court for Colorado, sitting by designation.
[FN1] Plaintiffs do not seek to enjoin § 25981. Section 25981 prohibits force feeding birds in California. Because Plaintiffs do not raise their ducks in California, § 25981 does not preclude them from force feeding their ducks.
[FN2] We may take judicial notice of § 25982's legislative history. Chaker v. Crogan, 428 F.3d 1215, 1223 n. 8 (9th Cir.2005).
[FN3] See Sen. Comm. on Bus. & Professions (Cal.2004), Analysis of S.B. 1520 as introduced Apr. 26, 2004, at 5–11; Sen. Rules Comm. (Cal.2004), Analysis of S.B. 1520 as amended May 6, 2004, at 5–12; Assem. Comm. on Bus. and Professions (Cal.2004), Analysis of S.B. 1520 as amended May 6, 2004, at 4–11; Sen. Third Reading (Cal.2004), Analysis of S.B. 1520 as amended June 21, 2004, at 2–5; Sen. Third Reading (Cal.2004), Analysis of S.B. 1520 as amended Aug. 17, 2004, at 2–5; Sen. Rules Comm. (Cal.2004), Analysis of S.B. 1520 as amended Aug. 17, 2004, at 3–4, 6–7.
[FN4] Plaintiffs argue that § 25982 was intended to ban every duck product, not just foie gras, because the statute does not use the term “foie gras.” Section 25982, however, does not prohibit foie gras. It bans the sale of foie gras produced through force feeding, but would not ban foie gras produced through alternative methods.
[FN5] During oral argument, Plaintiffs' counsel argued that the industry of down feathers relies on force feeding ducks, but Plaintiffs' declarations contain no evidence to support that argument.
[FN6] Plaintiffs also argue that § 25982 will be arbitrarily enforced to preclude only the sale of liver products, but those are the only products covered by the statute.
[FN7] With respect to the first tier of the inquiry, more recent cases have applied strict scrutiny to discriminatory laws. See, e.g., United Haulers Ass'n, Inc. v. Oneida–Herkimer Solid Waste Mgmt. Auth., 550 U.S. 330, 343, 127 S.Ct. 1786, 167 L.Ed.2d 655 (2007); Conservation Force, Inc. v. Manning, 301 F.3d 985, 995 (9th Cir.2002).
[FN8] Plaintiffs did not raise preemption as a basis for the preliminary injunction in the district court. Thus, the issue of preemption is not before us.
[FN9] As they did in the district court, Plaintiffs make no more than a passing reference to § 25982's alleged burden on foreign commerce.