By STAN MADDUX

Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Indiana is among 13 states asking the U.S Supreme Court to strike down laws in Massachusetts and California ordering all eggs sold in their states be from cage-free hens.

The laws violate the U.S Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to regulate commerce among the states – not the states authority themselves – according to the plaintiffs.

“No state has the right to dictate how other states choose to regulate business operations and manufacturing processes within their own borders,” said Indiana Attorney General Curtis T. Hill, who is leading the charge.

According to the lawsuit, out-of-state producers with confined hens will have to unlawfully switch to cage-free birds if they want to sell eggs in Massachusetts starting in 2022, when the law in that state is set to go into effect. The cage-free law in California has existed since 2015.

In Massachusetts, the law – also mandating that no pork or veal sold in that state come from pigs and calves kept in tight spaces – was adopted by 78 percent of that state’s voters.

The U.S. Egg and Poultry Assoc. said the issue should be decided by the consumer, not laws. John Glisson, vice president of the Tucker, Ga.-based group also known as USPOULTRY, said a market exists for cage-free eggs out of preference by consumers willing to pay the higher price and producers switching from confined birds to meet that demand.

The same holds true for producers keeping their hens confined to meet the needs of customers who prefer to pay less no matter how the eggs wind up in their hands. “Consumers want choice. So, the poultry industry likes to provide that choice and provide what the consumer wants,” Glisson said.

In response, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) said the litigation was a “legal Hail Mary to try and force substandard and inhumane products” onto the consumer. HSUS played a major role in allowing voters in Massachusetts to decide the question.

“We expect this latest legal action will fail, just as attempts to invalidate similar common-sense food safety laws have failed in California,” said Ralph Henry, a legal representative on the matter for HSUS.

Glisson said there are problems no matter how egg-laying chickens are kept because of their large volumes, and deciding the best manner is quite complex. Hens started being placed in cages years ago because of the harm done to the birds from attacking each other, and mishaps to chickens prone to accidents in open spaces, he added.

“People have a strong belief that there’s some difference in the welfare of the animals, but I can assure you that it is not a cut-and-dried thing. Just turning the chicken loose and they’ll be fine, it’s not like that. I wish life was that simple. People want things to be simple, but it’s not,” said Glisson.

He said the law in California has caused some producers to go out of business from having to produce cage-free eggs that loyal customers don’t want. “We’ll produce them cage-free or we’ll produce them in cages; whatever the customer wants,” Glisson said.