Federal judge dismisses lawsuit that attempted to highlight high egg prices.
A US District Court in Michigan has thrown out the US Department of Agriculture’s lawsuit against the state’s cage-free egg law. One of 11 states banning the use of cages for egg-laying hens, Michigan is also one of eight states that outlaws the sale of eggs from caged hens. Its legislation on cage-free eggs, the Hen Enclosure Law, enacted in 2019 with bipartisan support, regulates space requirements for egg-laying hens.
The USDA lawsuit sought to point to high egg prices, and thus damage to consumers, to challenge the law - but in reality, the rising costs have been linked to bird flu outbreaks. These outbreaks also led to egg shortages due to mass animal culls.
The District Court disagreed with the claim that cage-free regulations led to higher prices and thus harm to consumers, meaning that the government’s lawsuit failed to produce evidence of plausible injury to the public. It also found that the USDA lacked standing to bring such a lawsuit. The case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Jane M. Beckering of the Western District of Michigan.
"The mere existence of a state law that is preempted—and therefore invalid—does not itself injure Plaintiff. Nor does Michigan's enforcement of the Sales Ban, without more, establish a concrete and particularized injury to Plaintiff's enforcement of EPIA," wrote Judge Beckering in her opinion on the matter.
“I am pleased the District Court dismissed the Trump administration’s flawed assault on Michigan’s authority to protect the health and welfare of Michigan residents, as well as the animals we rely on to feed our families,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “This lawsuit was a thinly veiled attempt by the federal government to shift blame for higher costs at the grocery store from the President’s own failed policies to state laws that protect animal welfare.”
A similar lawsuit was filed by the Trump administration in California, where it also got rejected by the court. California also remains one of the states that prohibit both caging egg-laying hens and selling eggs that come from caged birds.
A new legislation introduced in Congress, the Save Our Bacon Act, would aim to restrict each state’s ability to introduce standards on goods produced outside the state as a condition of sale within the state. It is not yet certain whether it will be part of the final farm bill agreed upon by the House and Senate.
The USDA can now appeal to the Sixth Circuit within 60 days to continue challenging this regulation.
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Federal judge dismisses lawsuit that attempted to highlight high egg prices.