 for a good primer on why this case is important:

 — hinges on a simple question: Can California set its own standards for how pigs are treated on farms, even when they’re raised in other states?

The case centers, quite literally, on how sausage gets made in the US. Each year, over 6 million female breeding pigs, or sows, are raised in 

 — narrow metal crates that confine the pigs so tightly they’re unable to turn around for the duration of their four-month pregnancies (and they have about 

 in their three- to four-year lifetimes). As the pioneering animal welfare scientist Temple Grandin 

, the crates are akin to forcing a human to live much of their life in an airline seat.

 confining pigs so intensively also increases their stress levels and weakens their immune systems, which makes them more susceptible to infectious disease. (And given the 

 can pass from swine to humans, that threatens us as well.)

 of California voters supported a state ballot measure called Proposition 12 that would ban the crates and require sows be raised with at least 24 square feet of space. Importantly, the measure applied whether or not the pigs had been raised in California, so all whole, uncooked pork sold in the state would be required to be produced according to California’s standard. Given the vast size of the state’s market, it’s having a transformative effect for pigs across the country — just as California’s stricter emissions standards for automobiles 

have changed the way cars are made nationwide

The law has similar provisions for cage-free eggs and crate-free veal, which have already gone into effect — the challenge in the Supreme Court only covers pork, which will go into effect in 

I will likely resolve according to however Metaculus decides this question, unless anyone presents a better-specified resolution criteria.

Close date updated to 2023-12-26 11:59 pm