Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc.

1970 United States Supreme Court case

Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 13, 1970 Decided March 2, 1970
Full case name	Loren J. Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc.
Citations	397 U.S. 137 (more) 90 S. Ct. 844; 25 L. Ed. 2d 174; 1970 U.S. LEXIS 63
Holding
The burden placed on interstate commerce by Arizona's law is unconstitutional because Arizona's interest in identifying the origin of cantaloupes is outweighed by the heavy cost of building and operating a packing plant in Arizona^[1]
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall
Case opinion
Majority	Stewart, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
The Arizona Fruit and Vegetable Standardization Act^[2]

Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137 (1970), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that power of states to pass laws interfering with interstate commerce is limited when the law poses an undue burden on businesses.^[3]

Background

An Arizona statute required that Arizona-grown cantaloupes advertise their state of origin on each package. Bruce Church, Inc. was an Arizona grower of high quality cantaloupes. Instead of packing them in Arizona, it transported them to nearby California facilities, where they were not labeled as grown in Arizona.^[3]

Arizona issued an order prohibiting Church from shipping uncrated cantaloupes from the Arizona ranch, and requiring that the cantaloupes be packed in Arizona and identified as coming from an Arizona packer. This would have cost Church $200,000 to pack a $700,000 crop.^[3]

The company then brought a suit in federal court to stop Arizona from enforcing the order prohibiting Church from shipping the cantaloupes.

Opinion of the Court

State statutes that have a negative effect on interstate commerce are unconstitutional under the Dormant Commerce Clause. Justice Stewart used a balancing test.

Where the statute regulates evenhandedly to effectuate a legitimate local public interest, and its effects on interstate commerce are only incidental, it will be upheld unless the burden imposed on such commerce is clearly excessive in relation to the putative local benefits. If a legitimate local purpose is found, then the question becomes one of degree. And the extent of the burden that will be tolerated will, of course, depend on the nature of the local interest involved, and on whether it could be promoted as well with a lesser impact on interstate activities.^[3]

Applying this test to the Arizona statute, the court found it imposed too great of a burden to justify its benefits.^[3]

References

^ LexisNexis® Courtroom Cast: Loren J. Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc.
^ Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann., Tit. 3, c. 3, Art. 4.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137 (1970). This article incorporates public domain material from this U.S government document.

External links

Text of Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137 (1970) is available from: CourtListener Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)

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Speech or Debate Clause of Section VI
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Origination Clause of Section VII
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Hylton v. United States (1796)
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Springer v. United States (1881)
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Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co. (1922)
United States v. Butler (1936)
Helvering v. Davis (1937)
South Dakota v. Dole (1987)
Sabri v. United States (2004)
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

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Dormant Commerce Clause

Brown v. Maryland (1827)
Willson v. Black-Bird Creek Marsh Co. (1829)
Cooley v. Board of Wardens (1852)
Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois (1886)
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Edwards v. California (1941)
Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona (1945)
Dean Milk Co. v. City of Madison (1951)
Miller Bros. Co. v. Maryland (1954)
Bibb v. Navajo Freight Lines, Inc. (1959)
National Bellas Hess v. Illinois (1967)
Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc. (1970)
Hughes v. Alexandria Scrap Corp. (1976)
Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady (1977)
Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Commission (1977)
City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey (1978)
Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Maryland (1978)
Reeves, Inc. v. Stake (1980)
Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp. (1981)
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Contract Clause of Section X

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Hepburn v. Griswold (1870)

Others

Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
Sturges v. Crowninshield (1819)
Ogden v. Saunders (1827)
Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837)
Bronson v. Kinzie (1843)
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Home Building & Loan Ass'n v. Blaisdell (1934)
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City of El Paso v. Simmons (1965)
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Energy Reserves Group v. Kansas P. & L. Co. (1983)
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Import-Export Clause of Section X
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Compact Clause of Section X
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