Nathan A Adams IV is a Partner in Holland & Knight's Tallahassee office.
In Minerva-Dairy, Inc. v. Harsdorf, 905 F. 3d 1047 (7th Cir. 2018), the court of appeals affirmed summary judgment against the plaintiffs' claims that Wisconsin's butter-grading statute violated the Due Process Clause, Equal Protection Clause and dormant Commerce Clause. The court determined that the statute was rationally related to the state's legitimate interests in consumer protection and promoting commerce and, thus, did not violate substantive due process. The state had a legitimate interest in ensuring that consumers had relevant product information that could influence their purchasing decisions. Furthermore, the state did not violate the Equal Protection Clause simply because it made grading for other commodities such as cheese, honey and maple syrup voluntary based on evidence that butter preferences were less diverse and idiosyncratic. Last, Wisconsin's butter-grading statute did not expressly discriminate against interstate commerce in violation of the dormant Commerce Clause because the statute's labeling requirement applied to all producers, whether they resided in-state or out-of-state, and the statute allowed any individual to apply for a butter-grading license. Although out-of-state applicants seeking a Wisconsin butter-grader license would have to travel to Wisconsin to take the required examination, some in-state applicants would have to travel farther.
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