Opinion ID: 799604
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Secular Legislative Purpose

Text: The [Supreme] Court has invalidated legislation ... on the ground that a secular purpose was lacking, ... only when it has concluded there was no question that the statute ... was motivated wholly by religious considerations. Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 680, 104 S.Ct. 1355, 79 L.Ed.2d 604 (1984) (emphasis added). In Commack I, this Court concluded that the State has a valid secular interest in protecting against fraud in the kosher food market, and that this interest extends to the general public. Commack I, 294 F.3d at 431. The plaintiffs now contend, however, that the stated purposes for the Act are merely a pretext for discrimination against non-Orthodox Jews. [8] According to the plaintiffs, consumers cannot rely on the kosher label because the sellers of kosher food may label the product as kosher pursuant to any criteria they choose. Thus, the plaintiffs claim that the labeling may ultimately be misleading to the consumer and is a meaningless exercise, unless it is viewed as an attempt by the state to impose Orthodox requirements on sellers of kosher products. [9] When a governmental entity professes a secular purpose for an arguably religious policy, the government's characterization is, of course, entitled to some deference. But it is nonetheless the duty of the courts to `distinguis[h] a sham secular purpose from a sincere one.' Santa Fe, 530 U.S. at 308, 120 S.Ct. 2266 (quoting Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 75, 105 S.Ct. 2479, 86 L.Ed.2d 29 (1985) (O'Connor, J., concurring)). In analyzing whether the legislators had such a sincere motive, the Court may consider whether an `objective observer, acquainted with the text, legislative history, and implementation of the statute' can determine the motive. McCreary Cnty., Ky. v. Am. Civ. Liberties Union of Ky., 545 U.S. 844, 863, 125 S.Ct. 2722, 162 L.Ed.2d 729 (2005) (quoting Santa Fe, 530 U.S. at 308, 120 S.Ct. 2266). Although consuming kosher food products may have begun as a purely religious practice, sales of kosher food have grown to the point that Jewish consumers reportedly now make up less than thirty percent of the consumers of kosher food. Commack I, 294 F.3d at 431; see also Curran v. Lee, 484 F.2d 1348, 1349-50 (2d Cir. 1973) (aid by the city of New Haven to the St. Patrick's Day parade is not an establishment of religion because, even though the practice of honoring St. Patrick may be rooted in religious belief, a parade named after him is not necessarily religious and has possibly evolved into a secular celebration by Irish-Americans and their friends). Indeed, as the district court noted, and as discussed in the `[l]egislative findings and intent' of the Kosher Act, `a significant number of consumers' in New York State seek to purchase kosher food products, and `many of those consumers do so for reasons unrelated to religious observance'. Commack, 800 F.Supp.2d at 413 (quoting Kosher Act § 2). The Kosher Act's goal of providing clear and accurate information to these consumers about the food they are purchasing, `is furthered by requiring vendors of food and food products represented as kosher to make available to consumers the basis for that representation.' See id. (quoting Kosher Act § 2). Thus, the legislative history is clear that the labeling law has the secular purpose of protecting against fraud by informing a consumer that a particular seller believes a product is kosher. See Kosher Act § 2; see also N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law § 201-a. The consumer can then examine the kosher certifying criteria of the seller. See N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law §§ 201-a(3)-(4); 201-c(1), (3). [10] Unlike its prior version, the Kosher Act does not adopt a definition, interpretation or standard for the term kosher, and the plaintiffs have not alleged that the Act has been implemented in a discriminatory manner. Therefore, an objective observer acquainted with the text, legislative history, and implementation of the statute would conclude that the purpose of the statute was secular. We now turn to the entanglement and advancement prongs of the Lemon test.