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Suit Claims NY State Kosher Inspectors Are Exceeding Their Authority

By Howard Friedman

Yesterday's New York Jewish Week reports that a lawsuit has been filed in federal district court in New York by three kosher butchers who are seeking to require state inspectors to comply with a 2005 law that changed the way in which the state attempts to make sure that consumers are not misled when purchasing kosher meat. After the Second Circuit upheld a district court's determination that the state's prior kosher fraud law violated the Establishment Clause, the legislature passed a law creating an Internet database in which sellers of kosher food are required to submit specified information, particularly the name of the organization or individual that certifies their products as kosher. (Background). In the new lawsuit, butchers Brian, Jeffrey and Evelyn Yarmeisch claim that state inspectors are illegally second-guessing kosher supervisors' interpretation of Jewish law.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on March 13, 2008 (boomark / email).