Cavel International, Inc. v. Madigan

500 F.3d 544 (2007)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
C
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Cavel International, Inc. v. Madigan

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
500 F.3d 544 (2007)

Facts

Cavel International, Inc. (Cavel) (plaintiff) produced horse meat at an Illinois plant for human consumption. Cavel exported its entire output to Europe. Illinois passed an amendment (Amendment) to the Illinois Horse Meat Act, prohibiting the slaughter of horses in Illinois for human consumption. The law did not prohibit the slaughter of horses for other purposes, such as making pet food. Cavel sued Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and other Illinois state officials (defendants) in their official capacities, arguing that the Amendment unconstitutionally burdened foreign commerce. The federal district court found for the defendants. Cavel appealed and, pending the appeal, sought an injunction against the defendants barring enforcement of the Amendment. Cavel argued that it would be shut down if the Amendment was applied. Further, Cavel argued that even if it won on appeal, Cavel would not be compensated for its destroyed business because it could only obtain injunctive relief rather than damages from the state. The defendants argued that the public would suffer the irreparable harm of slaughtered horses if the injunction was granted. The district court denied the injunction, and Cavel appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Posner, J.)

Dissent (Easterbrook, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 811,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Remedies

Key Terms