Bruce Church, Inc. is a company engaged in extensive commercial farming in Arizo

Question

Bruce Church, Inc. is a company engaged in extensive commercial farming in Arizona and California. A provision of the Arizona Fruit and Vegetable Standardization Act requires that all cantaloupes grown in Arizona "be packed in regular compact arrangement in closed standard containers approved by the supervisor." Arizona, through its agent Pike, issued an order prohibiting Bruce Church from transporting uncrated cantaloupes from its range in Parker, Arizona, to nearby Blythe, California, for packing and processing. It would take many months and $200,000 for Bruce Church to construct a processing plan int Parker. Further, Bruce Church had $700,000 worth of cantaloupes ready for transportation. Bruce Church filed suit in federal district court challenging the constitutionality of the Arizona statutory provision on shipping cantaloupes. The court issued an injunction (essentially saying the statute was not constitutional) against the enforcement of the act on the grounds that it was an undue hardship on interstate commerce. Answer the following questions: 1. What is the Commerce Clause? 2. Will the Arizona regulation withstand Commerce Clause scrutiny? Why or why not?

Explanation / Answer

1. The Commerce Clause refers to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress the power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.”

2. Yes because it burdens interstate commerce, as cantaloupes were destined to be shipped from Arizona to an ascertainable place in California right away after harvest, and software of the challenged statute would require an operation now performed outside the State to be performed inside the State so it may be regulated there.

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