[JURIST] A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit [official website] has rejected [opinion text, PDF] a 7-year-old ban in New Jersey on the use of local roads by large rigs travelling interstate because it violates the Commerce Clause [Wikipedia backgrounder] of the US Constitution. The emergency regulation, originally adopted in 1999 [NJ DOT press release], prohibited double-trailer trucks and many tractor-trailers from using local roads unless the trucks planned to begin or end their trips in the state. The panel, which affirmed the 2004 decision of a federal judge in Newark, ruled Tuesday that the law discriminated against interstate commerce.

The Third Circuit did not order a stay on its decision, although the lower court had delayed its decision in 2004. The state, which contends the regulation protects the safety of its residents, plans to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court [official website]. AP has more.