Judge Rules Restaurant Law Stifles Ohio Cities

A state judge in Ohio has ruled that a state law placing sweeping limitations on local government’s ability to control restaurants in the interests of public health violates the state constitution.

The judge, Nancy Margaret Russo, said Monday that the law was “an unconstitutional attempt to pre-empt the plaintiff city from exercising its home rule powers under the Ohio constitution.” Passed last summer as part of a 5,000-page budget act, the law was initially aimed at a Cleveland ordinance banning restaurants and food makers in the city from using “industrially produced” trans fats in products. “I just picked myself up from off the floor,” said Joe Cimperman, a Democrat who heads the Cleveland City Council’s public health committee. “It’s great news.”

State Senator Scott Oelslager, who sponsored the amendment that became part of the budget bill, did not respond to a call to his office.

The Ohio judge’s ruling does not have any legal impact beyond the state. But health advocates said it nonetheless was significant. “It will further the national conversation about the responsibility of local governments to address public health crises in their communities,” said Samantha Graff, a lawyer who is research director at ChangeLab Solutions, a nonprofit group that works to come up with laws and policies to improve cities and states. “That’s an important principle. It’s about putting the conduct of municipal affairs in the hands of those who know the needs and conditions of their communities.”

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