Judge James P, Arguelles ruled that enforcement of Proposition #12 should be delayed until 180 days after issue of the final rule by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Petitioners had requested a 28-month delay, but Judge Arguelles stated, "petitioners are entitled to a delay that extends past the date on which regulations are enacted” He rejected the request that 28-months was required. Judge Arguelles left the door open to a subsequent ruling indicating "after final regulations are enacted, the parties may return to this Court for any appropriate adjustment to the date".
The California Department of Food and Agriculture is now two years late in publishing regulations to be framed in terms of Proposition #12 that was adopted in November 2018 effectively banning pork products from progeny of pregnant sows housed in gestation crates, to take effect in January 2022.
The ruling has no bearing on the supply of eggs to California from other states nor does it affect production within the state of California. Litigation concerning Proposition #12 was raised by the North American Meat Institute and the National Pork Producers Council and supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation. The petitioners essentially required a delay in implementing conversion to group housing for pregnant sows or changes to the intent of Proposition #12. Many hog packers have adopted policies requiring group housing of sows producing slaughter stock and recently Seaboard Foods, a holdout, publicly announced that it intends to comply with Proposition #12. In June 2021, SCOTUS declined to hear an appeal by the North America Meat Institute to overturn Proposition #12. The Court has yet to rule on petitions from the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation filed in September 2021.