The Associated Press reports:
New York City’s crackdown on big, sugary sodas is staying on ice.
An appeals court ruled Tuesday that New York City’s Board of Health exceeded its legal authority and acted unconstitutionally when it tried to put a size limit on soft drinks served in city restaurants.
The state Supreme Court Appellate Division panel upheld a lower court decision that had delayed the measure before it took effect in March.
The rule would stop many eateries from selling non-diet soda and other sugar-laden beverages in containers bigger than 16 ounces.
The beverage industry and other opponents say the measure is riddled with exceptions, unfair and ineffective.
The city’s law department has promised an appeal.
Bloomberg, you are a mayor in charge of a city, not the people. Free choice also means the choice to consume unhealthy things, not your issue or the city of New York’s
Leaving aside the issue of the big soda ban being irrational, how could it be legal? Under what authority can a mayor or board of health make laws? That’s why the courts are not amused. The courts don’t care if the ban is a good idea or not. The courts have determined that the mayor and his buddies on the health board can’t pick and choose which products are fit for consumption by citizens. We are a nation of laws, occasionally.
…it is a very crowded field, Ed…
While not up there with Obamacare as a bad idea, the ban was sure in the running for the most ridiculous liberal initiative of the year.
And the voters of NYC will re-elect the people who spend their tax dollars oppressing them. If things follow the usual pattern.