State of Missouri v. Kamala Harris

ORDER

The opinion filed November 17, 2016, and published at 842 F.3d 658 , is amended by the opinion filed concurrently with this order. No further petitions for rehearing or rehearing en banc may be filed.

OPINION

California enacted laws and regulations prescribing standards for the conditions under which chickens must be kept in order for their eggs to be sold in the state. Plaintiffs are six states, which sued to block enforcement of those laws and regulations before they took effect. We agree with the district court that Plaintiffs lacked standing to bring this case as par-ens patriae. We also hold that the district court did not err in denying Plaintiffs leave to amend their complaint. But because the action should have been dismissed without prejudice, we affirm but remand with instructions to dismiss the action without prejudice.

In the 2008 general election, California voters adopted Proposition 2, which enacted new standards beginning on January 1, 2015, for housing farm animals within California including, as relevant here, egg-laying hens. Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 25990-94 . Under Proposition 2, hens may not be confined for the majority of any day “in a manner'…