SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) — The Boot Barn and Dan Post Boot Companies are claiming California's ban on products made from certain species of lizards is unconstitutional and could cost them millions in lost trade.
Boot Barn Inc., and Dan Post Boot Company filed a complaint Nov. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against Rob Bonta in his official capacity as Attorney General for the State of California, alleging violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution and other claims.
According to the plaintiffs' complaint, they offer leather boots, shoes and belts that made from "Teju, Nile and Ring Lizards" which are sourced from Central and South America. They claim that they were forced to stop selling and supplying their leather products in California due to the state's amended California Penal Code which bans the sale of the Teju, Nile and Ring Lizard products.
The plaintiffs claim California's ban on the products is unconstitutional and that their trade of the lizard products is "legally permitted" in the U.S. under the Endangered Species Act. They also claim California's ban has imposed a "substantial burden" on their businesses and could cause the companies to lose "millions of dollars annually" in lost trade.
The plaintiffs allege California's legislation was based on false claims of the lizard's inhumane treatment and that the animals are listed as "least concern for extinction," and in several parts of southeastern U.S., the lizards are an invasive nuisance species.
The plaintiffs seek to enjoin the defendant from enforcing the California Penal Code section, monetary and all other just relief. They are represented by Paul Weiland and Christopher Hughes of Nossaman LLP in Sacramento, California.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California case number 2:22-CV-02105-WBS-DB