In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that a 1949 Department of Agriculture program is unconstitutional.

The now infamous case of Horne v. The USDA, California Raisin farmer Marvin Horne was fined $695,000 for refusing to comply with a law which allows the federal government to seize raisins from farmers.

The program actually takes raisins from farmers without compensation in an effort to control prices.

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In a big victory for property rights, freedom, and due process, the Court ruled that such a program was an unconstitutional “taking” of property, which violates the Fifth Amendment.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion:

“Raisins are private property, the fruit of the growers’ labor, not public things subject to the absolute control of the state. Any physical taking of them for public use must be accompanied by just compensation.”

A lower court had found the program was acceptable because farmers would benefit from higher prices. The Obama administration vigorously defended the program, arguing that high prices benefit farmers and the confiscated raisins could go to school lunches.

But the Court’s near unanimous decision rejected the idea that the government can steal property from individuals, even if there are benefits. The issue at hand is the right to one’s own property and the stealing of the literal fruits of their labor without compensation.

Held: The Fifth Amendment requires that the Government pay just compensation when it takes personal property, just as when it takes real property. Any net proceeds the raisin growers receive from the sale of the reserve raisins goes to the amount of compensation they have received for that taking—it does not mean the raisins have not been appropriated for Government use.

Nor can the Government make raisin growers relinquish their property without just compensation as a condition of selling their raisins in interstate commerce.

That’s a big victory for freedom and another big loss for the Obama administration at the Supreme Court.





