New Jersey Payphone Association, Inc, a Not for Profit Corporation Organized Under the Laws of New Jersey v. Town of West New York

This case involves a challenge under federal and state law to a local ordinance regulating the use of public rights-of-way by payphone service providers. The majority bases its decision on federal law, *248holding that the ordinance is invalid because it is preempted by the Federal Telecommunications Act' of 1996. While I agree that the ordinance in question is invalid, I arrive at this conclusion for different reasons.

It is well established that, when possible, federal courts should generally base their decisions on non-constitutional rather than constitutional grounds. See Harmon v. Brucker,…