Date:August 17, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Chase Carter, Executive Director
(402) 817-4443 carter@competitivemarkets.com

“In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be
preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise
re-examined in any Court of the United States, than
according to the rules of the common law.”
U.S. Constitution, Seventh Amendment.

The Organization for Competitive Markets expressed its disappointment today in an Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision disagreeing with the jury in the Pickett v. Tyson Fresh Meats litigation. The jury found, in February 2004, Tyson liable for $1.28 billion in damages for eight years of cattle price manipulation.

“These judges did not sit on the jury, but overturned their decision,” said Keith Mudd, OCM president. “The Appellate Judges did not hear the testimony of the witnesses or sit through several weeks of trial. Instead, they listened to one hour of argument and decided the jury was wrong.”

The Pickett case is about Tyson using cattle contract buying strategies to lower the live cattle price wrongly. The practice is known as captive supplies. The Court did not disagree with the jury that Tyson had used captive supplies to manipulate prices downward. Instead, the Court found the Plaintiffs did not prove the complete absence of a justification.

“The test used by the Court makes no sense,” continued Mudd. “Tyson’s captive supply practices caused $1.28 billion harm to cattle producers. Tyson said they needed captive supply to gain a consistent supply of cattle, but did not show evidence of the dollar value to the company. The Court essentially said they did not need to know the value. If Tyson gained any value whatsoever from captive supplies, we have to ignore the tremendous producer harm even if it overwhelmingly exceeds the benefit to Tyson.”

The Packers & Stockyards Act prohibits price manipulation by its language. The Pickett case was brought under this Act. No language in the statute says packers can justify price manipulation, or other unfair practices, if they have a business justification.

“The Court is writing words into the Packers & Stockyards Act that Congress did not choose to include when passing the Act in 1921

The Cattlemen’s Competitive Market Project (CCMP) is a self-help program for U.S. cattlemen, funded through voluntary contributions collected on cattle at the point of sale. Because the program is voluntary, funds may be used to promote USA RAISED (domestically produced) beef where other federally mandated programs cannot.