On October 2, 2014, a federal court dismissed a suit challenging a California ban on the sale of eggs produced under conditions that do not meet certain animal care standards, including space considerations. The dispute involved a ballot measure approved four years ago requiring egg-laying hens to be raised in free-range spaces—rules that state lawmakers subsequently extended to out-of-state farmers who sell their products in California. Missouri filed a complaint, joined by Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, in claiming the law violates the Commerce Clause of the federal Constitution. Together, farmers in the six states produce 20 billion eggs annually and sell two billion in California. This month, the court dismissed the states' case for lack of standing. The California law is set to take effect in 2015.
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