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U.S. to states: School lunch changes none of your business
Source: Reuters
U.S. AUGUST 27, 2019 / 10:19 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
U.S. to states: School lunch changes none of your business
Jonathan Stempel
3 MIN READ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - As schools begin reopening their doors to children nationwide, the U.S. government has told a federal judge that states have no power to sue over new rules they say make school meals less healthy.
In a Monday night court filing, the government said New York, five other states and Washington, D.C., could not sue based on speculation that changes to the federally funded National School Lunch Program could cause health problems for children and require more spending on treatment.
The government also said the states lacked power to sue under a doctrine known as “parens patriae,” Latin for “parent of the nation,” because it allegedly would not protect children from harm.
“This rule recognizes that a state has no legal interest in protecting its citizens from the federal government, and that only the United States, not the states, may represent its citizens and ensure their protection under federal law in federal matters,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan said in a filing in the federal court there.
-snip-
U.S. to states: School lunch changes none of your business
Jonathan Stempel
3 MIN READ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - As schools begin reopening their doors to children nationwide, the U.S. government has told a federal judge that states have no power to sue over new rules they say make school meals less healthy.
In a Monday night court filing, the government said New York, five other states and Washington, D.C., could not sue based on speculation that changes to the federally funded National School Lunch Program could cause health problems for children and require more spending on treatment.
The government also said the states lacked power to sue under a doctrine known as “parens patriae,” Latin for “parent of the nation,” because it allegedly would not protect children from harm.
“This rule recognizes that a state has no legal interest in protecting its citizens from the federal government, and that only the United States, not the states, may represent its citizens and ensure their protection under federal law in federal matters,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan said in a filing in the federal court there.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-food-lawsuit/u-s-to-states-school-lunch-changes-none-of-your-business-idUSKCN1VH1LY
3 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
observed it, Republicans invoke states rights arguments when they want freedom from federal protections in order to abuse their citizens. This is of course the opposite. 
I looked up "parens patriae" as applied between states and states and federal government.
It's very, very old legal doctrine related to children and others who can't care for themselves and is being used in other cases where states seek to protect residents against the Republican-dominated federal government. This stuff gets deep, but apparently if the court agrees that changes would create a need to protect (could, or would be expected to?), the states will have standing to bring their cases under that doctrine.
In April 2018, a coalition of 17 states led by California filed a preemptive parens patriae lawsuit against President Donald Trump over his proposal to rollback implementation of tougher national vehicle fuel economy standards established by President Barack Obama. In its petition, California called the EPA’s plan to weaken auto emissions rules an unlawful violation of the Clean Air Act. “This is about health, it’s about life and death,” former California Governor Jerry Brown said at the time. “I’m going to fight it with everything I can.”
