Agricultural News
Supreme Court Rejects R-CALF Lawsuit, Ending Latest Challenge Against Beef Checkoff
Tue, 28 Jun 2022 05:29:45 CDT
On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States denied R-CALF's lawsuit against multiple state beef councils and the Beef Checkoff in a case that began four years ago. R-CALF filed a lawsuit against the Montana Beef Council in 2018 alleging that checkoff dollars funded "private speech" rather than "government speech." The suit was later expanded to include 14 other state beef councils. Those states include Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
According to Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, this ruling effectively ends yet another R-CALF attack on the Beef Checkoff and prevents the activist attorneys at Public Justice, from further diverting Checkoff and beef industry resources.
"For too long we have allowed R-CALF and their attorneys to divide our industry and draw attention away from the important job of beef promotion and research. The Supreme Court's rejection of R-CALF's petition confirms the Beef Checkoff, and its overseers, are adhering to the letter and spirit of the laws that protect and guide producer investments in the program."
NCBA intervened in the lawsuit in its early days to help defend state beef councils from R-CALF and their activist attorneys, who falsely attacked state beef councils and the cattlemen and women who volunteer their time to support the industry as Checkoff leaders. Multiple court decisions rejected these allegations and reaffirmed the work and direction of the Beef Checkoff and those who guide it.
R-CALF has contended for years that in each of the 15 states, the state beef councils are private corporations that have been keeping half of all the mandatory beef checkoff assessments collected within their states to fund their private speech.
The group was challenging this practice on the grounds that the First Amendment prohibits the government from compelling cattle producers and other citizens to subsidize private speech.
The remedy to this constitutional violation, according to R-CALF USA, was to allow producers in those 15 states to choose whether or not to fund private corporations. With this latest rejection by the Supreme Court- the journey for the cattle group and the attorneys with Public Justice has come to an end, at least for now.
"R-CALF has repeatedly attacked the Beef Checkoff, engaging lawyers who are closely aligned with extremist animal rights groups like PETA and others, in an attempt to further their efforts," said Woodall. "It's time that our industry stands up to R-CALF and insists that they end these attacks on the Beef Checkoff and the volunteer cattle producers who direct it."
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