The Law MA Voters Approved That 13 States Are Suing Us For

In November 2016, with marijuana, gambling, and charter schools on the Massachusetts ballot, one question was decided with relative uniformity. Now 13 states are suing the Bay State and asking the US Supreme Court to block an incoming law before it goes into effect.

There wasn't much inherent controversy in the text of Question 3, which was dubbed "The Act To Prevent Cruelty To Farm Animals." It required that by 2022, all pork, veal, and eggs sold in Massachusetts must come from animals not confined to tight spaces.

The ballot question overwhelmingly passed with 77.7 percent of the vote. Wendell, Erving, and Colrain - which cast less than 3,000 votes combined - were the only towns in the state to vote against it. Which makes sense: Only one Massachusetts farm, the one in Wendell, would be affected by the law. You'll want to read about their story here.

It turns out, however, there are many more farms outside of Massachusetts that would essentially either have to change their practice or just not sell their meat to businesses inside the state when the law is implemented. And that brings us to the lawsuit.

The States of Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin argue in a lawsuit obtained by The Boston Globe that "Massachusetts’s efforts to regulate farming in other states constitute extraterritorial commercial regulation in violation of the Commerce Clause."

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hall, Jr., who is spearheading the complaint, wrote, "No state has the right to dictate how other states choose to regulate business operations and manufacturing processes within their own borders."

Simply put: Farms that don't abide by the law Massachusetts voters approved cannot sell their sell eggs and meat in Massachusetts. And those states say that action violates law on interstate commerce.

What do you think? Should a farm in Utah be factored into Massachusetts law? Or should the value of interstate commerce overrule it? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook!

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2008 file photo, chickens huddle in their cages at an egg processing plant at the Dwight Bell Farm in Atwater, Calif. The Ohio Farm Bureau is ramping up fundraising to take on the Humane Society of the United States over close confinement of farm animals. The Humane Society met earlier with federation leaders, Ohio cattlemen, pork producers and the poultry industry to demand changes in farming practices or face a ballot initiative. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)