In an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a victory for the rights of private citizens and businesses by striking down “a raisin price-support program that dates back to the New Deal, ruling it unconstitutionally requires growers to surrender their crop to the government for future sale,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
The decision was handed down earlier today in Horne v. Department of Agriculture — a case we posted about back in May.
Prior to this ruling, the “Raisin Marketing Order” allowed the U.S. government to forcibly take a part of a raisin farmer’s crop without fair compensation. The order was created during the Great Depression to guarantee stable prices and availability of raisins.
This Order came before the Supreme Court, thanks to the case of Laura and Marvin Horne, fifth generation California farmers. Thirteen years ago, the U.S. government raided their farm— “commando style” — to seize their raisins when they didn’t give the government half their crop without payment.
To add insult to injury, the government fined the Hornes $650,000.
The Hornes launched a legal battle against the government — a hard-fought victory which ended today.
In his opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the federal program violates the Fifth Amendment prohibition of taking private property “for public use without just compensation.”
View our initial video on the Horne’s case below: