By Sarah Everhart
I previously wrote a post about the legal challenge to the Massachusetts cage-free ballot initiative and this post is a follow up to let you know that on July 6 the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the ballot initiative is valid.
As I previously explained, the opponents to the initiative argued that it should be invalidated because the ballot item was in effect asking voters to take a stand on two separate and unrelated issues: whether certain farming practices (raising animals confined in cages) should be banned in Massachusetts, and whether certain types of products (cage free raised eggs and meats) should be banned from being sold there. According to the Boston Globe, the Massachusetts Supreme Court disagreed and in its ruling, said “[b]oth the farm provision and the sales provision share a common purpose of preventing farm animals from being caged in overly cramped conditions, consistent with the statement of purpose.”
There are currently 10 states that have banned the use of cages to raise hens, veal and pigs. I will keep an eye on this ballot measure and update the blog in November as to how the citizens of Massachusetts vote on the measure.