ELR Citation: 53 ELR 20174
No(s). 20-16758 (9th Cir. Nov 7, 2023)

The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment for agricultural producers and businesses and a permanent injunction enjoining the California attorney general (AG) from enforcing Proposition 65's carcinogen warning requirement for the herbicide glyphosate. Plaintiffs argued the warning violated their right to be free from compelled speech. The district court found the warning violated the First Amendment as applied to glyphosate and permanently enjoined the AG from enforcing it. The appellate court held the warning requirement as applied to glyphosate was unconstitutional because none of the proposed warnings were narrowly drawn to advance California's interest in protecting consumers from carcinogens, and the state had less burdensome ways to convey its message than to compel plaintiffs to do it for them. It affirmed summary judgment and the permanent injunction.