A federal judge upheld a San Francisco law that will require soda companies to include label warnings on their products of risks of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. The court rejected industry arguments that the warning labels violated free speech. (San Francisco Chronicle, May 17, 2016, by Bob Egelko)
Federal district judge Edward Chen denied the companies’ request for an injunction disagreeing that the law compels speech in violation of the First Amendment. “Plaintiffs are not likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment claim, and it is unlikely that they would suffer irreparable harm if the ordinance were to go into effect. Even if Plaintiffs had established serious questions going to the merits, balancing of hardships does not tip sharply in their favor,” he wrote. (Jurist, May 18, 2016, by Jaclyn Belczk)