The challengers say the measure impermissibly interferes with interstate commerce in part because almost all of the pork sold in California is produced out of state. Lower courts upheld the measure, prompting the challengers to turn to the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority. “What the pork producers are asking for is quite unprecedented,” said Brian Frazelle, a lawyer with the Constitutional Accountability Center, a liberal legal group that filed a brief supporting the state. The groups say in court papers that Proposition 12 “will transform the pork industry nationwide” because currently nearly all farmers keep sows in pens that do not comply with the law. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is defending the law, said in court papers that the measure is valid under the commerce clause because it is not aimed at benefiting California producers over out-of-state competitors.

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