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May 22, 2002
Orthodox Union
Disappointed In Court Ruling Striking New York’s “Kosher Laws”
Today, the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – through its Institute for
Public Affairs – expressed its disappointment with the ruling of a federal
appellate court upholding a lower court decision which found New York
State’s kosher food consumer protection laws unconstitutional.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit upheld a district court ruling that the laws, designed to protect
New Yorkers who seek to purchase kosher food products from fraud, were a
violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause since they empowered
the state to interpret and enforce religious strictures.
IPA director, Nathan Diament, issued the
following statement in the wake of the appellate court ruling:
The Orthodox
Union is disappointed with the Court of Appeals decision. These laws
are not, as Judge Gershon had asserted, designed to further or endorse
religion, they are designed to protect New Yorkers who seek to purchase
kosher food – often priced at a premium – from fraud. This is something
that all consumers are entitled to have the state protect them from.
We appreciate
the efforts of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Attorney General Eliot
Spitzer and our counsel Nathan Lewin in defending the attack on these
laws and we look forward to working with them to ensure that New York’s
consumer citizens are protected from fraud and deceit in the kosher
marketplace.
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