The first permanent Kosher law was enacted in NY in 1917 to combat what was then rampant an open fraud in the sale of kosher meat( Its constitutionality against a due process vagueness challenge was upheld by the US Supreme Court.). I summarized this history in an article I wrote in the journal Judaism about 15 years ago ,but it is not available on line.(Kent Greenawalt wrote something subsequently.) There is also a good but hard to get book on the subject whose name I would have to dig out. More recently, the New York, New Jersey, Maryland (Baltimore) and Georgia laws were invalidated because they allowed the state to decide a religious question-was the food kosher. Now all states work on the basis of mandatory disclosure statements and the inspectors simply police the presence and accuracy of those statements.
Marc D. Stern Associate General Counsel for Legal Advocacy ste...@ajc.org 212.891.1480 646.287.2606 (cell) <http://www.ajc.org/> NOTICE This email may contain confidential and/or privileged material and is intended for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient, please be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, disclosure, copying, distribution or other transmission is prohibited, improper and may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error, you must destroy this email and kindly notify the sender by reply email. If this email contains the word CONFIDENTIAL in its Subject line, then even a valid recipient must hold it in confidence and not distribute or disclose it. In such case ONLY the author of the email has permission to forward or otherwise distribute it or disclose its contents to others. _____ From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Finkelman, Paul <paul.finkel...@albanylaw.edu> Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 05:21 To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: RE: The End of NY's Kosher Inspectors I once knew a lot about this; but that was years ago; I am at the AALS meeting now and can't access information. There is an essay on Kosher inspection laws in Religion and American Law: An Encyclopedia (Routledge [formerly Garland] 1999), which I edited. The laws date from the early 19th century, I believe ---------------------- Paul Finkelman President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy Albany Law School 80 New Scotland Avenue Albany, NY 12208-3494 518-445-3386 (o) 518-445-3363 (f) www.paulfinkelman.com From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Nathan Oman Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 4:00 PM To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: The End of NY's Kosher Inspectors According to the story below, NY has decided to nix its Kosher inspectors as a way of spending money. Does anyone know the details (and citation) for the 2004 case mentioned in the article? Also, I am wondering what precisely the inspectors after the decision. Finally, does anyone know why the inspectors were set up in the first place? Why wasn't the issue simply solved by having private kosher audits by reputable bodies? The idea of a state Kosher inspector just seems perverse and unnecessary to me. What am I missing? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704735304576058100916662270.ht ml?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_newyork ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nathan B. Oman Associate Professor William & Mary Law School P.O. Box 8795 Williamsburg, VA 23187 (757) 221-3919 "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken." -Oliver Cromwell
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