New Jersey law N.J.A.C. 13:45A-21.7 requires a business that describes its food as “Jewish” but does not represent it as kosher to make that distinction clear to customers. Cherry Hill’s Kibitz Room argues that “Jewish” describes a culinary tradition, not compliance with religious dietary requirements. The state is seeking a $1,000 penalty for missing the required disclosure. The restaurant now has a sign at the door that says “not kosher”. The business is contesting the fine according to coverage in the Philadelphia Inquirer today.
I’ve had my own experience with a New Jersey rule that struck me as bizarre.
Once, I posted on my personal Facebook page that a Money Island friend had extra crabs available for sale. I was up in PA that week but had paid for the crabs in advance for a planned community BBQ that was rained out. I didn’t need the crabs, but thought someone else might want them. He didn’t use Facebook, and I didn’t want the crabs to go to waste. He did not have a sales receipt from the commercial seafood shop in Salem County that sold the crabs, and so I was fined under N.J.S.A. 23:2B-9(b) for marketing of seafood without keeping catch records.
I contested the fine and lost. I argued that the law was intended for commercial seafood advertising, not a single personal Facebook post. The court disagreed and found that the law required records from seafood sellers and that my Facebook post counted as selling for that purpose. I paid the fine and lost my faith in New Jersey’s prosecutors and courts to do the common sense thing.
Different circumstances, but a familiar disconnect: what you think you’re doing and what the state legally considers you to be doing can be different things. My gut feeling that some of our laws are outdated and my faith in the courts can adjust to changing social norms appear to hold little value.