A federal court judge from one of the least populated states in the United States has stopped the U.S. government from implementing a much debated and analyzed trade rule.
On March 2, judge Richard Cebull issued an injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Agriculture from implementing a rule that was to allow the importation of Canadian ruminants for the feeding and slaughter trades.
“It is rare for a single, federal court judge to stop a federal rule or law from coming into place,” said Larry Howell of the University of Montana Law School.
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“Judge Cebull must believe very strongly in the merits of this case.”
Normally when federal court judges grant an injunction that stops a federal law, it is because they feel it might contravene the U.S. constitution.
Howell said Cebull’s decision is unusual because it appears not to be based on constitutional matters but on American cattle producers’ market security and food safety concerns. However, Howell said he has not thoroughly examined the decision.
American federal courts are divided into 13 judicial circuits across the nation and its territories, each with its own court of appeals. Each of these circuits contains a number of judicial districts, 94 in total. The ninth circuit, which includes Montana, is the largest with 28 judges and a court of appeals in San Francisco.
“The (U.S.) federal government knows the road from Billings to San Francisco pretty well. They often make the trip to appeal Montana rulings of one type or another,” said Howell.
Cebull is one of those 28 regional judges and one of two in Montana. He was among president George Bush’s first judicial appointees, nominated by U.S. senators Burns and Baucus in 2001.
His nomination was unusual because Republican Conrad Burns and Democrat Max Baucus agreed on his appointment and jointly petitioned the president and senate for his approval. Despite sitting on opposite sides of the Senate, they each have supported anti-Canadian trade actions throughout their political careers and last week both men voted against the March 7 resumption of live ruminant trade with Canada.
Cebull’s injunction, ahead of a trial, may be overturned by the court of appeals in San Francisco if one of its three-judge panels decides that the Montana judge erred in his decision or in law.
Howell said there are two main factors involved in a judicial decision to grant an injunction prior to a trial:
“One, likelihood of success at trial, the judge feels that the plaintiffs will prevail, and two, that irreparable harm would come to the plaintiffs if the actions are not stopped or prevented from happening,” he said.
“Both are important to establishing the need for an injunction.”
If the USDA successfully appeals the ruling for the injunction, Howell said the border-opening rule would likely come into force as it was intended.
“That could happen in as soon as a couple of months,” he said.
R-CALF and USDA would then be sent back to Cebull for a trial in his Montana court. At this point R-CALF would have the opportunity to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but that body could choose not to hear the case.
“The court of appeals must hear it,” said Howell.
U.S. law requires that all federal court trials must take place within 18 months of application, but Howell said it would likely be only a few months until the case would be heard.
If the appeals court upheld Cebull’s injunction, the USDA would also be required to go to trial in his court and the injunction would remain in place until he rendered his decision or a settlement was made.
Cebull’s decision after a trial could then be appealed once again in the court of appeals in San Francisco.
Howell said generally if judges grant an injunction before a trial, even though they would not have heard all of the evidence, it is taken as a sign by lawyers for both sides that the judge will tend to rule in favour of the plaintiffs.
U.S. federal court judges generally remain on the bench until retirement. Cebull is 61.
