Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – through its Institute for Public Affairs – expressed its disappointment with the ruling of a federal district judge in Brooklyn finding New York State’s kosher food consumer protection laws unconstitutional.

Judge Nina Gershon held that the laws, designed to protect New Yorkers who seek to purchase kosher food products from fraud, were a violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause since they empowered the state to interpret and enforce religious strictures.

IPA director, Nathan Diament, issued the following statement in the wake of the court ruling:

The Orthodox Union is disappointed with Judge Gershon’s ruling against New York’s kosher consumer protection laws. These laws are not, as she has asserted, designed to further or endorse religion, they are designed to protect New Yorkers who seek to purchase kosher food – often priced at a premium – from fraud. This is something that all consumers are entitled to have the state protect them from. We anticipate an appeal of this ruling and hope for a positive ruling from the Second Circuit.