Foremost Dairies v. Milk Commission

13 Fla. Supp. 23
CourtCircuit Court of the 2nd Judicial Circuit of Florida, Leon County
DecidedJuly 9, 1958
DocketNo. 8887
StatusPublished

This text of 13 Fla. Supp. 23 (Foremost Dairies v. Milk Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court of the 2nd Judicial Circuit of Florida, Leon County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Foremost Dairies v. Milk Commission, 13 Fla. Supp. 23 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1958).

Opinion

BEN C. WILLIS, Circuit Judge.

This cause came on for hearing on the petitioner’s petition for a writ of certiorari to review official order no. 20-11 of respondent Florida Milk Commission titled “In the Matter of a Base Fixing Plan For All Milk Marketing Areas Except the Pensacola Milk Marketing Area,” dated January 16, 1958, filed with the Secretary of State and posted in the office of the Milk Commission on January 30,1958. To this petition the respondents have filed their motion to deny and dismiss the petition. Briefs of the parties have been filed and studied and oral argument by counsel for the parties heard, and the court is advised of its opinion in the premises.

The petitioners are each a licensed milk distributor as defined in chapter 501, Florida Statutes, and each is subject to and will be directly affected by said order.

The petitioners assert that said order is void on its face and in substance contend that—

No statutory power exists in the commission to fix “bases” of milk production and to impose contractual or other obligations upon producers and distributors with respect to the amount of milk the distributors must accept and pay for during any period of time at prices fixed by the commission.
The order provides unlawful restrictions upon termination of contractual relations between producer and distributor by embodying the provisions of official order 20-7, which requires [25]*25a showing of “just cause” for termination of a previously-established relationship between producer and distributor.
The order, by creating certain contractual relationships between producer and distributor, denies liberty of contract and constitutes a taking of private property without due process of law in violation of section 1, 14th amendment, U. S. constitution, and section 12, declaration of rights,, Florida constitution.
That if there is statutory power to fix bases imposing contractual obligations, such attempt to grant such power constitutes an unlawful delegation of power, for no standard for fixing bases is provided by the legislative act.
That the order had insufficient legal predicates because of no proper hearing or record to support the order; no proper findings of fact; and other procedural deficiencies.
That the order is arbitrary, unreasonable, capricious, and discriminatory, primarily because of producing monopolistic privileges and preferences to present producers and discriminates against out-of-state producers.
That it violates the Commerce Clause of the TJ. S. constitution (art. 1, sec. 8, clause 3 and sec. 10, clause 2) because it will affect milk produced out-of-state handled by a distributor by bringing into effect F. S. 501.13 (8) relating to prices to be paid for out-of-state milk and that said statute itself is. unconstitutional as violative of the Commerce Clause.

The respondents, in resisting the petition, contend, inter alia, that certiorari does not lie to review this order because the order is quasi-legislative and not quasi-judicial. They also contend that the petitioners are not entitled to a hearing in this court on the issues raised by them because of failure to raise their objections at the administrative hearing and failure to show any legal or substantial interest in the order. Most of these points have been fully discussed in the order this day entered by this court in National Dairy Products Corp. v. Milk Commission, 13 Fla. Supp. 1. Reference is made to that order and the discussion there set forth will not be repeated here. It is sufficient to observe that this court is of the view that the petitioners are or may be aggrieved parties because of the order of the commission, that the order promulgated by the commission has judicial attributes in its predicates, that certiorari is the available method of review of the order and the petition is properly presented by the petitioners.

Moving then, to the merits of the case, it first becomes necessary to construe the challenged order in the aspects it affects the petitioners, who are licensed milk distributors. It is elementary that a court will construe an administrative order so as to find same to be valid, if such a construction is available.

[26]*26Preliminary fact finding set forth in the opening paragraph of the order states that the commission has determined that “the following ¡base fixing plan will establish proper relationship of producers with distributors” and “will establish for distributors . . . proper relationships with their producers, so that fair and uniform methods of relationship may exist at all times to maintain an orderly production of milk and an orderly distribution of milk and milk products in all of the milk marketing areas . . . except the Pensacola... area.”

Section 1 of the order contains definitions of “producer” and “distributor.” A “producer” is any legal entity producing milk within the state of Florida, including cooperatives under chapter 618, Florida Statutes. This term must also be construed according to the definition of “producer” in F. S. 501.02, which says that “producer” and “dairy farmer” are one and the same and both are a person (natural or artificial) producing milk within the state. At this point, a pause is made to observe that the “producing” of milk by a “producer” is limited to the taking of milk from dairy animals in the state of Florida ¡by the dairy farmer who operates his dairy farm in the state of Florida and the delivery of such milk by such farmer to a milk dealer in this state. Included are also the cooperatives under chapter 618, but only in the sense that the cooperative represents collectively its member Florida dairy farmers and is doing for them collectively what they individually might do. Also, milk “produced”, within the meaning of this order, is only that which the dairy farmer takes from the animals on hi© farm and in the course of his ordinary dairy farming. This point is made here to foreclose any interpretation of the order of the commission on this court’s order entered herein as embracing any transaction of a dairy farmer or anyone else whereby milk is purchased or otherwise procured from another dairy farmer or producer and the milk so acquired delivered to a milk dealer. The order under review is and can only be construed to reach and regulate milk produced from animals on the farm of the “producer” in this state. No protection is intended to be provided in order no-. 20-11 for a milk broker, or one who acquires the milk he delivers to the dealer in any manner other than his own -dairy operations. Of course, this does not strictly apply to the milk cooperatives, but in this regard, the milk cooperatives are only acting collectively for their member farmers. The cooperatives may not claim any rights for any milk not acquired by them from the production on the farms of their members.

A “distributor” is defined in the order and the statute as a milk dealer who operates a milk gathering station or processing plant where milk is collected and bottled or otherwise processed and pre[27]*27pared for sale. It is limited in order no. 20-11 to only those distributors within the marketing areas affected by the order.

Section 2 of the order prescribes the first “base fixing period” for each of the marketing areas.

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Related

Baldwin v. G. A. F. Seelig, Inc.
294 U.S. 511 (Supreme Court, 1935)
Edgerton v. International Company
89 So. 2d 488 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1956)
National Dairy Products Corp. v. Milk Commission
13 Fla. Supp. 1 (Leon County Circuit Court, 1958)

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Bluebook (online)
13 Fla. Supp. 23, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/foremost-dairies-v-milk-commission-flacirct2leo-1958.