Appeals court rules NYC ban on large sugary drinks is unconstitutional
Dealing yet another blow to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s efforts to reduce obesity in New York City, a state appeals court upheld an March decision by a lower court that Bloomberg’s sugary drink ban is unconstitutional.
The court wrote that the city’s Board of Health “failed to act within the bounds of its lawfully delegated authority,” and as a result, the so-called soda ban is unlawful.
Bloomberg issued his edict in May 2012. The porous ban would have restricted the size of fountain drinks to 16 ounces, but contained many exceptions.
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The size restrictions would have applied at restaurants, theaters and food carts. But retailers such as 7-Eleven would still have been allowed to sell super-sized drinks, like the 64-ounce Big Gulp.
The ruling Tuesday upholds a March decision by Justice Milton A. Tingling of the state Supreme Court in Manhattan, who called the law “arbitrary and capricious.”
The First Department of the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division took particular issue with the soda ban’s various exceptions.
A four-member panel wrote in its decision that “the selective restrictions enacted by the Board of Health reveal that the health of the residents of New York City was not its sole concern. If it were, the ‘soda ban’ would apply to all public and private enterprises in New York City.”
Bloomberg said in a statement he intended to appeal Tuesday’s ruling.
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