SCOTUS Case: National Meat Association vs. Harris

National Meat Association vs. Harris:

In this supreme court case, the National Meat association of California is going up against Federal law. In this particular case State law is being challenged by federal law, which usually comes out on top in terms of supreme court cases. California state law dictates that a sickly animal must be destroyed immediately while federal law outlines that the animal must be quarantined and observed so an illness can be pinpointed to see if the rest of the slaughterhouse animals could possibly be affected by the disease. The animal would also be quarantined to find out the symptoms of the disease or infection in order to find it in other animals (pigs in this case). Part of California's argument included that leaving a quarantined animal to die from a horrid infection or illness is a form of cruelty while those backing the federal law stuck to their argument that finding the root of the illness and preventing an outbreak of disease among a group of animals bound for the slaughterhouse has a much greater reward than risk. Since the case is relatively straightforward, officials will most likely come to a decision in the early months of the upcoming year after the weigh the pro's and con's of each dictated law.