Pork checkoff case sent back to lower court

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Supreme Court of the United States has set aside a lower court ruling declaring the pork checkoff unconstitutional and returned the case to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
The Supreme Court also sent instructions to reconsider the case in light of its recent ruling in a similar case involving the beef checkoff.
Similar suit. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote, declared in Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Association that the Beef Promotion Act does not violate the First Amendment.
The court ruled the speech produced by the Cattleman’s Beef Board pursuant to the Beef Promotion Act is government speech immune from First Amendment challenge.
A similar challenge to the pork checkoff had been on hold at the Supreme Court, awaiting determination of the beef checkoff case.
On May 31, the court granted a writ of certiorari in Johanns v. Campaign for Family Farms and returned the case to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals for further consideration.