A big gulp of relief

Let’s hear it for Milton Tingling.

Tingling, a justice on the New York Supreme Court, struck down New York City’s proposed ban on large soft drinks. The idea was proposed last year by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and approved by the city’s health board. It was to take effect this week, but Tingling said uh-uh.

Among other things, he said in his ruling Monday that the ban on drinks larger than 16 ounces was arbitrary in that it only applied to some sugary drinks and some places that sell them. “The loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of this rule,” said Tingling, a Democrat elected to his post in 2001.

Bloomberg proposed the ban as a way to cut down on obesity, and he vows to appeal. “One of the cases we will make,” he declared, “is that people are dying every day.” And only an expansion of the nanny state can prevent that, it seems.