United States v. United Foods, Inc.
United States Supreme Court
533 U.S. 405 (2001)
Congress passed a law requiring mushroom distributors to pay into a fund used mainly for advertising to boost mushroom sales. United Foods, Inc. (UFI) (defendant), a mushroom grower and distributor, refused to pay the assessment because it disagreed with the advertising message. The government (plaintiff) sued to collect. The district court sided with the government based on Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliott, which had upheld a similar assessment for tree fruit producers as part of a larger regulatory marketing scheme. The court of appeals reversed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether the government may compel a designated class of producers to fund government-directed advertising through a mandatory assessment, when some producers object to the message and the assessment is not part of a broader collective marketing scheme.