MONTPELIER, Vt. (Legal Newsline) – The plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to stop Vermont’s law that requires genetically engineered food to be labeled has asked a federal appeals court in New York City to block the law, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said.
The United States District Court in Vermont denied a preliminary injunction request by the plaintiffs, so they appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, asking for the court to overturn the district court’s decision. Sorrell said no briefing schedule has been set.
Sorrell said Wednesday the appeal by the plaintiffs wasn’t “entirely unexpected.”
Sorrell
“We will now simultaneously continue this fight in the trial and appellate courts,” Sorrell said. “Our goal is for the law to go into effect as scheduled on July 1, 2016.”
The district court ruled last week that the plaintiffs “were not likely to prevail on the merits of their claims,” Sorrell said. The court also ruled that the plaintiffs hadn’t proved they would be harmed by the law if it went into effect in July 2016.
Sorrell said he doesn’t expect the appeal to delay the district court case, and added the court retains authority over the matter even while the preliminary injunction denial is reviewed.
