Via the Baltimore Sun:

A federal judge in Baltimore has struck down a Maryland law that demanded Wal-Mart Stores Inc. increase spending for employee health care, saying the legislation violated federal law which promotes uniform treatment of employers.

The importance of this decision cannot be overstated. However, despite coming to the correct conclusion, Judge J. Frederick Motz ruled in favor of Wal-Mart not because such legislative overreach is a gross abuse of private property rights, but because Wal-Mart would have been forced to maintain employee records differently in Maryland than it does in other states.

I suppose it's a good thing there are federal statutes protecting employers, inasmuch as the federal government retains so much authority over private business and imposes any number of regulations that potentially increase costs and limit profits. But what does it say about our current climate when a judge must wade through federal regulations in order to uphold rights of businesses to freely contract with their employees--rights that should be inherent, not merely allowed at any given point in time by government?