In an unusual show of unanimity, the United States Supreme Court in National Meat Association v. Harris recently struck down a California state penal statute that had attempted to regulate the slaughter of swine in contravention of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (“FMIA”). Justice Elena Kagan, writing the opinion of the Court, recognized that the FMIA’s strongly worded preemption clause signified Congressional intent to occupy the entire field of the commercial activity of slaughtering meat for human consumption. In overturning the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had held that the FMIA and the state statute regulated separate fields of commerce, the opinion indicates the Court’s willingness to protect the rights of an industry from being impeded by state law when it is clear that application of a unified, national standard is the intent of Congress.

In 2008, the Humane Society of the United States disbursed an undercover video taken at a slaughterhouse in California that showed employees of the factory “dragging, kicking and electro-shocking sick and disabled cows” while attempting to move them for slaughter for human consumption. Release of the video triggered the largest beef recall in United States history, an action aimed to prevent the consumption of beef obtained from potentially diseased cows.