Judge shoots down NY ban on large sodas, ‘sugary drink ban’
A day before New York CIty’s unprecedented soda ban was set to begin, a judge has rejected the restrictions, calling the initiative “arbitrary and capricious.”
Since its inception, the controversial plan, spearheaded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been criticized by the beverage industry and small businesses.
Mayor Bloomberg said he will challenge the ruling.
“The loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of this rule,” Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling wrote.
“The portion cap rule, if upheld, would create an administrative Leviathan and violate the separation of powers doctrine,” by straying into territory that should belong to the elected City Council, not the board appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Tingling wrote.
That, he wrote, “has the potential to be more troubling than sweetened beverages.
The city Board of Health approved the measure in September. Championed by Bloomberg
