Red barn on an Indiana farm at sunset

July 24, 2020Right to farm: Indiana families ask U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in

Animal Law & Policy Clinic asks U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on Indiana’s Right to Farm Act violating the federal constitution.

The Animal Law & Policy Clinic has CAFO petition to SCOTUS on behalf of several individuals and the Hoosier Environmental Council challenging the constitutionality of Indiana’s Right to Farm Act, which eliminated the ability of homeowners to sue for any remedy when large industrial hog farms—or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)—are sited next to rural homes, resulting in noxious fumes and toxic particles invading the homes where they have lived for decades.

The Petition, drafted by recent graduate Boanne Wassink JD and third year Harvard Law student Andy Stawasz ’21, asserts that the Indiana statute violates the Takings Clause of the Constitution because it deprives the families of the value of their property without any compensation. Read an exclusive in the Indianapolis Star about the case published today.