California’s law banning the force-feeding of birds for the purposes of enlarging their liver (a virtual ban on foie gras in the manner it is commercially produced) was recently upheld by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals The ruling (available here) was based on constitutional law issues concerning whether or not the law was illegal interference with interstate commerce by a state.or was too vague to be enforced. Without getting into an analysis of constitutional law, suffice it to say that the federal appeals court did not think California was picking on out-of-state foie gras producers for the benefit of in-state producers and that the law was clear enough to know what was being banned.
For a good non-hysterical take on the larger issues on the ban, see this Sunset magazine article.
© 2013, LT Pacific Law Group LLP. All rights reserved.