Judge strikes down parts of North Dakota Beef Commission membership law

BISMARCK — A North Dakota judge has ruled that the law for nominating people to the panel that promotes the beef industry violates the state constitution because it gives nominating power to specific trade groups and no one else. That is arbitrary and unreasonable, South Central District Judge Jackson Lofgren wrote in his Friday, Oct. 23, decision. Three cattlemen — Kenneth Graner, Michael Heaton and Jeremy Maher — who are the directors of the Ranchers Rights Initiative challenged the law last year as unconstitutional. The state sought to have their claims dismissed. The judge heard arguments from both sides in a July hearing. Lofgren said the law deals out an advantage by name, granting the named groups the exclusive power to choose who may be considered for six seats on a public commission. By specifically naming private entities, rather than listing criteria for entities to meet to be eligible to submit nominations, (the law) creates a closed class that pr