Bottle Bill Case Adjourned Two Weeks

ALBANY—Lawyers representing both the state and an association of bottlers appeared today in Federal Court in Manhattan to reargue a decision that suspended the state’s expanded bottle law until next year, but the case was adjourned for two weeks.
The law was due to take effect June 1, but was thrown out by Judge Read More

State Fighting Bottle-Bill Ruling

ALBANY—After a federal judge threw out the state’s expanded bottle law last month in response to a lawsuit by some major bottlers, government lawyers filed a motion Wednesday calling on the judge to reconsider.
The motion seeks to modify a ruling by Judge Thomas Griesa, which stopped all aspects of the law until April Read More

Bottle-Bill Procrastination Will Cost $115 Million

ALBANY—Here’s the official written injunction from federal court Judge Thomas Griesa, which declares the state’s expanded bottle law unenforceable until April 1, 2010, which should cost the state over $100 million dollars.
Griesa issued the order after a group of bottlers sued to stop the enforcement of the law, on grounds that its provision Read More

Waiting For Official Court Ruling, Bottle Law Confusion

ALBANY—There is nothing in writing yet from federal judge Thomas Griesa, who yesterday declared an injunction preventing the state’s expanded bottle law from taking effect on June 1. But someone passed along a court transcript.
In it, Griesa writes “the defendants are preliminarily enjoined from carrying out or enforcing the phase of the statute Read More

Court Halts Bottle Bill

ALBANY—During a court appearance today, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction forestalling the implementation of the expanded bottle bill, which was enacted as part of the state budget.
This means that the measure will not go into effect, as planned, by June 1. There was recognition among state lawmakers that it had to Read More