Hillside Dairy, Inc. v. Lyons and Ponderosa Diary v. Lyons
April 22, 2003 (01-950)
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Case Summary
California regulates the dairy market in the form of pricing and pooling. In 1997, California amended these regulations in response to out-of-state dairy competition. The new regulations mandated that in-state processors contribute to a pooling system of revenues even when they bought out-of-state milk. As a result, out-of-state dairy farmers experienced decreased profits and did not receive any shared revenues from the pool. Petitioners filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the new dairy regulations. The court found that the regulations were immunized by the 1996 Farm Bill. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed and held that the 1996 Farm Bill provided an exception to the Commerce Clause that allowed California to modify its dairy regulations. The Court found that even if a cause of action could be made, Petitioners failed to show that the dairy regulations were arbitrary or unrelated to legitimate state interests. The opinion of the Ninth Circuit is found at 259 F.3d 1148.

To see the opinion of the lower court, click here.


PREDICTED OUTCOME ACTUAL
OUTCOME
Forecasting
Model
Expert
One
Expert
Two
Expert
Three
5-4 to Reverse 9-0 to Reverse 9-0 to Affirm n/a 9-0 to Reverse
VOTING TO REVERSE
Stevens
O'Connor
Souter
Ginsburg
Breyer
Rehnquist
Stevens
O'Connor
Scalia
Kennedy
Souter
Thomas
Ginsburg
Breyer
Rehnquist
Stevens
O'Connor
Scalia
Kennedy
Souter
Thomas
Ginsburg
Breyer
VOTING TO AFFIRM
Rehnquist
Scalia
Kennedy
Thomas
Rehnquist
Stevens
O'Connor
Scalia
Kennedy
Souter
Thomas
Ginsburg
Breyer
 

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