The New York Times reports that a New York State Supreme Court judge has thrown out Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s ban on large size serving cups of sugar sweetened beverages. The judge apparently concluded that the statute was ‘arbitrary and capricious’ because other high calorie drinks were not covered and not all establishments selling beverages were covered.

The Court’s opinion states, “The simple reading of the Rule is nevertheless fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences. The simple reading of the Rule leads to the earlier acknowledged uneven enforcement even within a particular City block, much less the City as a whole. Furthermore, as previously discussed, the loophole in this Rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of the Rule. It is arbitrary and capricious because it applies to some put not all food establishments in the City, it excludes other beverages that have significantly higher concentrations of sugar sweeteners and/or calories on suspect grounds, and the loopholes inherent in the Rule, including but not limited to no limitations on re-fills, defeat and/or serve to gut the purpose of the Rule.”

These problems with the law were easily foreseeable, as I wrote in Note to Mayor Bloomberg. The judge’s opinion also appears to reflect recent decisions of the Supreme Court which are likely to limit similar, broad approaches to obesity.