Are Kosher Laws Kosher?

MICHAEL SNOW

ABSTRACT

Can the government interpret kosher dietary laws? For over 100 years, the State of New York has tangled with regulating Kashrut, the set of religious laws concerning food production and consumption in Judaism, through regulating the sale of kosher food and imposing reporting and transparency measures on kosher purveyors. Such laws raise challenging constitutional, property law, and public policy questions: Under what circumstances can the government determine what is kosher without transgressing the First Amendment? How should courts and legislatures balance consumer protection with religious freedom? This Article analyzes the constitutionality of laws regulating Kashrut under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. Through a close analysis of case law, the Article charts the vicissitudes in New York’s oversight of kosher food and examines the intersections of government authority, food regulation, and religious freedom.