Supreme Court hears case on interstate commerce

The justices are considering whether the state of California illegitimately regulated entities outside its border with Proposition 12, which said that all pork sold in the state had to come from pigs whose mothers had 24 square feet of space to roam. Two pork industry groups sued, saying the law unduly burdened the industry and illegally reached outside California’s borders.

Why is the case significant? It deals with how much power states have to regulate industry. In oral arguments Tuesday, Justice Elena Kagan expressed concern about the precedent if California were to prevail, saying, “Do we want to live in a world where we’re constantly at each others’ throats and Texas is at war with California and California at war with Texas?” The court will likely decide the case by June.

Dig deeper: Read Steve West’s report in Liberties about how the Supreme Court will review Google’s liability for allowing radical ideas to spread.