We’re not quite sure what to make of this story (“The Raisin Situation“) in the New York Times, about the situation in Fresno, California, after the Horne case. You remember that one, don’t you? All about whether USDA’s seizure of raisins in order to maintain the price was a taking.
The piece tackles a serious subject, the dwindling raisin market and the problems that have reverberated in Fresno (the raisin capital of the world), but like many stories about the raisin industry — Comedy Central did a report in which it described SCOTUS petitioner Marvin Horne as a “modern day Jesse James,” for example — this one is done in a tongue-in-cheek fashion (it appears in the “Style” section of the Times).
It reminds us of the 1980’s satirical miniseries “Fresno,” a comedic take on then then-popular nighttime soaps Dallas and Dynasty.
But the piece is still worth reading, especially if you want to see the fallout of the Horne decision.