Small Agricultural Businesses’ Property Rights Defended in NFIB Brief at U.S. Supreme Court
For small businesses in agriculture, NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center last week filed a brief to protect the rights of small business owners in a U.S. Supreme Court case – Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid.
The case will examine a California law that permits union organizers to enter agricultural businesses during specified hours for a certain number of days each year. NFIB argues in its amicus brief that this law prevents owners from using their private property to its fullest extent, supporting small businesses’ dominion over their property and the right to exclude union organizers.
Karen Harned, Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center said in a statement about small businesses’ rights at stake in the case, “Owners are given no authority under current law to be able to say no to union visits and receive no compensation for the intrusion on their property. It is a disrupter to daily business, and we urge the Supreme Court to take action on behalf of California’s small agricultural businesses.”
The case questions whether a California regulation interferes with the “right to exclude,” a fundamental right of property ownership. Currently, California law allows union organizers to enter agricultural businesses during specified hours for a certain number of days each year.
NFIB filed the U.S. Supreme Court brief with the Cato Institute and argues that the current California regulation is a taking of private property without just compensation, in violation of the 5th Amendment’s Takings Clause. NFIB believes this regulation is unlawful and urges the Court to affirm that unions cannot invade private property without paying compensation for the infringement.
The NFIB Small Business Legal Center protects the rights of small business owners in the nation’s courts and this year the Legal Center celebrated 20 years. The Small Business Legal Center is currently active in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts across the country and in the U.S. Supreme Court.
