Cockfighting Ban Upheld

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a federal prohibition on cockfighting in the Northern Marianas

Evidence that Congress may have also sought to prevent the spread of avian flu by restricting, and ultimately prohibiting, cockfighting reinforces the conclusion that the prohibition serves significant federal interests.

Thus, Congress’s interests in regulating animal fighting to relieve its burden on interstate commerce, ensure the humane treatment of animals, and prevent the spread of avian flu are significant, not illusory, as Salas suggests. Because these federal interests outweigh any intrusion into the CNMI’s internal affairs, neither § 103 nor § 105 preclude § 2156 and its 2018 Amendment’s application to the CNMI.

The challenge to the regulation

In his complaint, Salas advanced three legal theories as to why the Covenant precluded the application of the [Animal Welfare Act]’s federal prohibition on cockfighting to the [Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Island]. First, Salas argued that because § 2156 was not a law of general application in 1978, it did not apply to the CNMI under Covenant § 502. Second, Salas asserted that § 2156 did not apply to the CNMI under § 105 because it could not be made applicable to the several states. Finally, Salas contended that the 2018 Amendment intrudes into the internal affairs of the CNMI in violation of Covenant § 103, which preserves the CNMI’s right of local self-government.

Wonder what the Supremes might do with this one. (Mike Frisch)