Initiative 300 Suffers Defeat in Circuit Court
Center for Rural Affairs
 
The Center for Rural Affairs is urging Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning to continue the battle to protect Initiative 300, and what the law has meant to family farmers, ranchers, rural communities and the economic and social well-being throughout Nebraska for 24 years.
 
Last Wednesday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion affirming U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith-Camp’s December 2005 decision that declared Initiative 300 in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
 
Judge Smith-Camp never held a trial to discern the evidence in the case.  She ruled that Initiative 300 is unconstitutional on its face, essentially because it is inconvenient for out-of-state interests to comply with the provision in Initiative 300 that requires that a family member live on or operate the farm or ranch to qualify as an allowed family farm or ranch corporation.  The three judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals concurred.
 
“This is a flawed ruling.  This is what happens when the courts make crucial decisions without holding a trial and hearing the facts of a case,” said Chuck Hassebrook, Executive Director of the Center for Rural Affairs.  “We believe that Initiative 300 should have its day in court,” argued Hassebrook.
 
The Circuit Court’s decision compounded another problem with the District Court’s ruling: it’s wrong on the facts.  Initiative 300 does not distinguish between in-state and out-of-state corporations.  For example, a Montana rancher that works everyday on his Montana ranch could qualify his operation as a family ranch corporation just as easily as a Sandhills rancher, and having done so could place cattle in Nebraska custom feedlots just like Nebraska ranchers.
 
Moreover, the legal precedent established by this ruling is broad and dangerously expansive.  It could undermine a wide range of state laws and dramatically diminish the power of states to control corporate power and excess.
 
In his appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning argued, “Initiative 300, Nebraska’s ban on corporate farming, does not violate the commerce clause, nor does it discriminate against out-of-state individuals or corporations.”