Today in Cochran v. Veneman, a 3-judge panel of the USCA for the 3rd Circuit decided the question of:
whether a federal statute may compel a small dairy farm in Pennsylvania to help pay for the white-mustache milk advertisements and other dairy promotions. Implicated here are general First Amendment precepts that protect the right to refrain from speaking and the right to refrain from association, and the specific issue of whether the government may compel individuals to fund speech with which they disagree.For background, see the Nov. 1, 2003 entry in the old Indiana Law Blog, discussing the 6th Circuit's opinion ruling that the pork checkoff program is unconstitutional.
[Update 2/25/04] Here is an AP story in the Boston Globe today headlined "'Got milk?' campaign dealt setback in court."
Posted by Marcia Oddi at February 24, 2004 04:51 PM