Court Grants United Foods Stay

April 21, 2000

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the Department of Justice's request to stay a mandate in the case of United Foods Inc. vs. United States Department of Agriculture. The stay, which was granted on April 5 in Cincinnati, OH, is in affect until May 15. The stay follows the court's March 23 decision to deny DOJ's petition for rehearing a legal challenge brought by United Foods Inc. On Nov. 23, 1999, the Court had ruled that the portion of the Mushroom Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act, which authorizes mandatory industry payments for advertising, violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

DOJ asked the court to issue the stay to allow time to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the government's petition for the stay, it argued that three other U.S. circuit court decisions supported the government's right to authorize research and promotion programs, and that the decision of the appeals court, if left in place, will call into question many similar acts of Congress. The government cited the case of Glickman vs. Wileman Bros. & Ellliott, Inc., in which the U.S. Supreme court in June 1997 upheld the constitutionality of compelled funding of generic advertising under two federal marketing orders for California tree fruit.

"While the court's stay is in effect, the mushroom program will continue to assess producers and importers, impose penalties for violations of the federal act, and maintain day-to-day operations," said Kathleen A. Merrigan, administrator for USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, the agency that oversees the mushroom program.

USDA supports agricultural self_help programs like the mushroom research and promotion program," Merrigan said. "National commodity research and promotion programs offer opportunities to develop, maintain, and expand markets for agricultural products at home and in international markets. These programs provide the means for industry to conduct its own product and market research, and they empower people to work together to address common marketing problems."