Cal-Almond, Inc. v. Department of Agriculture

In a previous appeal for these cases, we held that certain provisions of the California Almond Marketing Order (Order), 7 C.F.R. § 981 , violated the free speech and free association rights of several almond handlers. Cal-Almond, Inc. v. Department of Agriculture, 14 F.3d 429 (9th Cir.1993) (Cal-Almond I). We remanded the case to the district court to conduct the fact-intensive inquiry necessary to determine the appropriate remedy. On remand, the district court ordered the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to refund the full amount the almond handlers had paid to the Board since 1980, to release all of the advertising assessments that had been placed in escrow accounts, and to reimburse the almond handlers all of the money they spent on creditable advertising. The USDA appeals the propriety of the district court’s award. We have jurisdiction, see 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm in part and reverse in part.

I.

In our previous opinion, we held that certain provisions of the Order, which was issued by the Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, 7 U.S.C. § 601-674 (AMAA), to regulate the California almond-handling…