D.C. Circuit Reverses Course on COOL Decision; Will Rehear Appeal

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit breathed new life into the meat industry’s challenge to the Agriculture Department’s new country of origin labeling (COOL) regulations, announcing on April 4 that the court will take another look at the case. The decision to rehear the case “en banc” means that the D.C. Circuit’s March 28 decision to refuse the American Meat Institute’s request for an injunction blocking the regulations has been vacated (see 14033102). Instead of the three judge panel that issued the original decision, the case will now be decided by a vote from all eligible judges of the court. There are currently 11 active judges. The court order announcing the rehearing says it will pay particular attention to the issue of “whether, under the First Amendment, judicial review of mandatory disclosure of ‘purely factual and uncontroversial’ commercial information, compelled for reasons other than preventing decision, can properly proceed … .”