In
Commack Self-Service Kosher Meats, Inc. v. Hooker, (ED NY, Aug. 3, 2011), a New York federal district court upheld the constitutionality of New York's 2004 Kosher Law Protection Act (
Agr. and Mkts. L. Sec. 201-A to 201-D). The law was passed after an earlier version was declared unconstitutional. Under the 2004 law, producers, sellers and certifiers of kosher food are required to file various disclosures with the state identifying the qualifications of certifiers of food being sold as kosher. This information is made available in an
online registry for consumers. The court rejected an Establishment Clause challenge, finding that the state had a secular purpose in enacting the law and that the law does not favor one religious group over another. The court said:
The State cannot define what is and is not kosher because that is a matter of religious law. But the state is entitled to protect all purchasers of food represented to be kosher, whatever their religion, from fraud....
In contrast to the previously challenged statutes, which constituted the advancement of Orthodox Judaism because they defined "kosher" as meeting "orthodox Hebrew religious requirements," the current version of the Act is purely a labeling and disclosure law.
The court also rejected claims of excessive entanglement of religion and state. Plaintiff argued that "there is entanglement between the Orthodox religious community and the State's political elite." But the court said that prohibited entanglement is only present when the government is being charged with enforcing a set of religious laws. Additionally, court also rejected plaintiffs' free exercise claims, finding that the law does not restrict any religious practice, nor does it require the use of any particular symbol to identify food as kosher.
Reuters reports on the decision.
