Highest NY Court Agrees to Hear Bloomberg Soda Appeal:  Months after Mayor Bloomberg was handed his latest loss in an effort to ban sales of sugary beverages in sizes larger than 16 ounces in particular NYC locations, his administration was given one more shot at overturning its earlier courtroom defeats.

The case before the New York Court of Appeals is Matter of New York Statewide Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce v. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2013-869.

This summer, a decision by an appellate court, in affirming a trial court’s opinion, held that the executive branch (the City’s Board of Health) exceeded its authority by single-handedly pushing through the soda ban without the vote of the City Council.  See the trial court’s ruling at http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/sodaruling0311.pdf.

Bloomberg’s opposition to the lower court’s and appellate court’s decisions was apparent as soon as the decisions were handed down.  Partly because of the number of New Yorkers affected by obesity and diabetes, and partly in an effort to uphold one of his keystone initiatives before leaving office at the end of this year, Bloomberg has been especially vocal in this ongoing litigation.

In any event, the acceptance of this latest appeal proceeding very likely constitutes Bloomberg’s hail Mary in reinstating the proposed soda ban.  Arguments will take place in early 2014.

“Highest NY Court Agrees to Hear Bloomberg Soda Appeal” was updated and first published on Wenderlaw.com.