Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc.

Arizona's Fruit and Vegetable Standardization Act required all cantaloupes grown and sold in Arizona to be packed in standard closed containers, and Loren Pike (defendant), the state official enforcing the law, blocked Bruce Church, Inc. (plaintiff), an Arizona cantaloupe grower, from shipping its uncrated cantaloupes to California as it normally did. Bruce Church sued to enjoin enforcement, showing it lacked the facilities to comply, that the fruit's perishability meant it couldn't acquire compliant facilities in time, and that compliance would cost it its entire crop plus roughly $700,000 in losses and a new $200,000 plant. The district court held the law unconstitutional, and Pike appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.