SCOTUS Strikes Down USDA Seizure of California Raisins

Looks like the government seizure of raisins is coming to an end !!

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against an old regulation that has been taking a percentage of raisin crops and redistributing those raisins.

The Court ruled that this outrage is an unconstitutional violation of the Fifth Amendment.

Raisins have finally been liberated to be sold on open free markets at last.

What if any, repercussions will come up now?

In Major Victory for Property Rights, SCOTUS Strikes Down USDA Seizure of California Raisins

The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires the government to pay just compensation when it takes private property for a public use. But according to a 1949 “Marketing Order Regulating the Handling of Raisins Produced from Grapes Grown in California,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture is permitted to demand a portion of each year’s California raisin crop, free of charge. The title to those raisins passes to an entity known as the Raisin Administrative Committee, which is allowed to use the raisins for its own purposes. Those purposes include giving the raisins away for free to school lunch programs or selling them for foreign export. If it sells them, it gets to use the proceeds to fund its own operations.


In a decision issued today in Horne v. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the USDA’s raisin confiscation scheme as an unconstitutional violation of the Fifth Amendment.


“The reserve requirement imposed by the Raisin Committee is a clear physical taking,” observed Chief Justice John Roberts. “Actual raisins are transferred from the growers to the Government. Title to the raisins passes to the Raisin Committee.” That is a textbook example of an uncompensated government taking of private property, Roberts held, and it therefore must fall under the plain text of the Fifth Amendment.

They may force me to buy health insurance, but they can never take MY RAISINS!!!

I suppose any victory, regardless of how small it may seem, is still a positive thing. There are probably a million other much more important issues that they could be figuring out other than the misappropriation of raisins but then again it's good to see at least some problems are being fixed.

So we should give credit where it's due and say "Good job SCOTUS on the Raisin problem." This should be good for the Raisin market which is a plus. Hopefully some money will be saved also by getting rid of a ridiculous dept. like the Raisin Administrative Committee. Looks like those guys might have to get real jobs now like the rest of us. One problem down and only about a billion or so more to go.

Yay Raisins!!

I wrinkled with joy upon hearing this ruling....

not a big fan of raisins.

but i love liberty.

so give this

How has the taking of private property for sale at a profit be going on for so long and what other instances may be similar to this?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

What kind of remuneration is due?

When the oil companies sued for back taxes on diesel, claiming that the taxed diesel they had been using all those years should have been part of the manufacturing process and thus tax free, the government settled for some unGodly amount. They observed that the value would be astronomical, but nearly impossible to figure out. So they just made a really big number, and paid that to the oil companies.

Then rolled out "red diesel" (tax free diesel that you can go to prison for using inappropriately...don't mess with the IRS).

So the question then is: since the amounts allocated to Uncle Sam were clearly tracked and the values known....how will the law suit work out? How much money is this going to cost the Taxpayers?

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
How much money is this going to cost the Taxpayers?

Good question, it will certainly cost something and all more the more reason why we need less government intrusion.

a reply to: xuenchen

Great news! I remember reading about this on the Daily Sheeple last month. It seems in that case a farmer just lost a huge portion of his already frighteningly low yeild crop (due to drought conditions) to the USDA over this law your referring to here. I remember thinking to myself how absurd that was...I am really happy to hear this happened, now if they would just end civil forfeitures to the Government etc...theyd really be batting 1000.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

I'm sure what is owed to the Raisin people is a good amount I doubt it will ever be enforced or paid back in full. Not because it's not important or just, but because I really don't think the Raisin Lobby with it's lawyers pack the same influence as the oil industry and their lawyers. I imagine the Raisin farmers will probably be happy just not having the Gov. steal from them anymore and will cut their losses and move forward now.

a reply to: mojom

well...the "lawyers" for the oil industry was a dude who was a freshly minted CPA with a big brain and a lot of moxie. He actually shopped the idea to the oil industry folks so they would buy in and give him standing to file the suit.

Its one way that billionaires are made.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Maybe the raisin industry should give him a call then. The down side of course is that should they actually win the Gov. just pays them with taxpayer money anyway which means the people just lose twice. Funny how that always works like that isn't it. They Gov. steals and we pay. They get caught stealing and are forced to pay back for what they steal and we pay again. Somehow we get the sh*t end of it every time.

a reply to: mojom

If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.

--- George Orwell

originally posted by: mojom
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Maybe the raisin industry should give him a call then. The down side of course is that should they actually win the Gov. just pays them with taxpayer money anyway which means the people just lose twice. Funny how that always works like that isn't it. They Gov. steals and we pay. They get caught stealing and are forced to pay back for what they steal and we pay again. Somehow we get the sh*t end of it every time.

Again why we need smaller government.

In case you hadn't, government produces no goods or services of its own to sell, so all its money comes from we who pay taxes. When the government does something wrong, we pay for it whether or not we had anything to do with the government's decision.

This is why the Founders wrote the COTUS the way they did. It was supposed to cage the government to keep it from growing into a monstrosity that could do this.

a reply to: ketsuko

Sure they produce goods and services

through the sale of seized assets, mostly those gained through tax evasion and drug sales. Which is interesting, because another big money maker for the government is through production and sales of narcotics.

And it isn't new....recall The Opium Wars. War as a racket is something we are long accustomed to.

Now if we could get them to do the same with income tax.

a reply to: xuenchen

Just so I understand, the government can take our land, our water or even a puddle, our Miranda Rights, a sizeable chunk of our paychecks, and all those other things outrageous but true...but they can no longer take California raisins...?

Sounds like progress.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
a reply to: ketsuko

Sure they produce goods and services

through the sale of seized assets, mostly those gained through tax evasion and drug sales. Which is interesting, because another big money maker for the government is through production and sales of narcotics.

And it isn't new....recall The Opium Wars. War as a racket is something we are long accustomed to.

Ah, they still didn't actually do any production. They only took what wasn't theirs in the first instance.

And in the second, they are making money illegally.

originally posted by: ketsuko


And in the second, they are making money illegally.

its what the mafia does, right?

Didn't even know this was a thing. Man, SCOTUS gets some really weird cases.