An attorney for raw milk producer Amos Miller argued Tuesday that the farmer should be allowed to serve out-of-state customers while Pennsylvania pursues a case against him.
Robert Barnes, an attorney for Miller, argued in Commonwealth Court in Pittsburgh that the state’s milk laws are focused on protecting Pennsylvania consumers.
Using state law to regulate sales to out-of-state consumers faces constitutional issues, Barnes said.
Judge Stacy Wallace questioned Barnes on this point, saying the state Legislature had provided a broad definition of sales, and Miller’s intent to sell happened in Pennsylvania.
If the court holds that the Constitution’s commerce clause prevents Pennsylvania from regulating the milk produced and sold from within its borders, other states would be forced to erect trade barriers contrary to the intent of the commerce clause, the attorney general’s office argued.
The Commonwealth Court will now decide the fate of a March preliminary injunction by Lancaster County Judge Thomas Sponaugle that blocked Miller from selling raw milk, but only within Pennsylvania.
Though federal law bars raw milk sales across state lines, Miller has many out-of-state customers who say his raw milk products are important to their health.
But Miller, an Amish farmer from Bird-in-Hand, does not have a state-required license for retail raw milk sales. The permit would only allow Miller to produce a fraction of his current product line, Barnes said.
The Pennsylvania Ag Department searched Miller’s Organic Farm on Jan. 4 after a child in Michigan and another in New York were sickened by E. coli believed to be from the farm’s raw dairy products.
Pennsylvania then sued Miller to stop him from producing raw milk products without a permit.
Barnes said no one has ever gotten sick from Miller’s products, though the Food and Drug Administration tied two listeria illnesses to his products in 2016.
