Horne v. Department of Agriculture, No. 12-123; U.S. Supreme Court; opinion by Thomas, J.; decided June 10, 2013. On certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 (AMAA), which was enacted to stabilize prices for agricultural commodities, regulates only "handlers," i.e., "processors, associations of producers, and others engaged in the handling" of covered agricultural commodities, See 7 U.S.C. § 608c(1). Any handler that violates the secretary of the Department of Agriculture’s marketing orders may be subject to civil and criminal penalties. See §§ 608a(5), 608a(6), and 608c(14). One such order, the California Raisin Marketing Order, established a Raisin Administrative Committee (RAC), which recommends setting up annual reserve pools of raisins that are not to be sold on the open domestic market, and which recommends what portion of a particular year’s production should be included in the pool. The order also requires handlers to pay assessments to help cover the RAC’s administrative costs.
