Letter to Hon. Thomas J. Vilsack, US Secretary of Agriculture and Hon. Merrick Garland, US Attorney General - Senators, Representatives Call on Biden Administration to Withdraw from Proposition 12 Challenges

Letter

Dear Secretary Vilsack and Attorney General Garland:

We write to urge you to withdraw the amicus curiae briefs filed by the Trump Administration in two cases challenging California's Proposition 12, which sets humane standards for farm animal products sold in California. The briefs were filed in two cases in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, National Pork Producers Council v. Ross and North American Meat Institute v. Becerra.

The Trump Administration's efforts to overturn this popular California law are fundamentally inconsistent with long-standing judicial precedent, and if adopted, threaten to derail numerous critical health, safety, environmental protection, and animal welfare regulations in dozens of states. Just a small sample of state laws that could be subverted include regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages, wildlife protections, child labor, dangerous pesticides, pollutants, and puppy mills. Prompt withdrawal of these briefs is imperative as they directly undermine decades of federalism and constitutional law precedent that preserves the states' power to serve as laboratories of democracy, where they can advance new policies to protect their citizens.

In light of the serious and needless threats to states' authority to protect the well-being of their citizens, the environment and animal welfare, we request that you immediately withdraw the previous administration's amicus briefs filed in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross and North American Meat Institute v. Becerra. Furthermore, we ask that you advise the Supreme Court that it should not take up the North American Meat Institute's appeal if the Court requests the Administration's input on the current petition for certiorari in that case.

Thank you for your consideration of our request.

Sincerely,