USDA | | USDA Seeks Stay In Beef Checkoff Case | The U.S. Department of Just...
USDA
USDA Seeks Stay In Beef Checkoff Case
The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), yesterday (July 8) filed a request with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit asking that court to stay the decision issued by the U.S. District Court in South Dakota that the Beef Promotion and Research Act is unconstitutional. If the stay is granted it will allow the collection of beef checkoff contributions after July 15.
The June 21, 2002 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Charles B. Kornmann maintained that the national beef checkoff program violated the First Amendment rights of cattle producers and called for the USDA to halt collection for the program starting July 15. The constitutionality of the beef checkoff was challenged in a lawsuit filed by the Livestock Marketing Association, the Western Organization of Resource Councils and several other plaintiffs. The Justice department noted in its motion that the lawsuit was filed by only five individual plaintiffs, and the checkoff was originally approved by a majority of the cattlemen voting on it.
The Department of Justice asked for a decision on the stay by July 11. The USDA must have a decision by that date so it will have time to notify collectors whether they must comply with the district judge’s injunction, the motion said.