This week the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Horne v. USDA. It’s been dubbed the “raisin case” since challenges the constitutionality of a longstanding federal program that confiscates raisins from raisin growers. The NFIB Legal Center was eager to defend these growers because if the federal government can confiscate raisins what’s to stop the government from confiscating inventory from a retail shop, or from taking property from any other small business?
The New Deal-era program was intended to stabilize raisin prices by controlling the supply of raisins in the market. Under the program the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires raisin growers to surrender a portion of their crop each year, currently about 47 percent.
In 2003, Marvin Horne decided he had enough and refused to turn over nearly 50% of his crop. This resulted in a whopping $483,000 in fines. Horne sued and argued that the government’s program amounted to theft and violated the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the government from taking private property for public use without just compensation. The government’s defense is that the Fifth Amendment protects only real property – i.e., land – not personal property, like raisins. The NFIB Small Business Legal Center joined with Cato Institute in a brief to the Court, which argues that the Founding Fathers certainly considered personal property to be protected under the Constitution.
The good news from our friends at Volokh Conspiracy, over at the Washington Post, is that the Supreme Court seemed highly skeptical of the government’s position. Professor Somin paraphrased Justice Scalia’s tongue-and-cheek restatement of the government’s position: “the government’s argument here is that the Hornes are actually “ingrates” who should be grateful for the government’s largesse.”
For those interested in this case, we highly recommend reading George Will’s recent column: Shriveled grapes, shriveled liberty. Beth Milito, of the NFIB Legal Center, also discusses the case on Nightly Business report. And for a lighted-headed exposé, check out the Daily Show’s recent segment, highlighting how “un-raisin-able” the government’s arguments are in this case.
