court ruling last week in Nebraska has dealt a devastating blow to the nation's program for policing meat safety. It calls into question the government's authority to shut down meat plants for repeatedly violating sanitary standards designed to combat bacterial contamination and outbreaks of food-borne illness.

Judge Joseph Bataillon of the Federal District Court rebuffed an Agriculture Department effort to shut down the operations of Nebraska Beef, an Omaha slaughterhouse with numerous citations for violating standard sanitary operating procedures. The plant was chosen for special scrutiny after the discovery last year of deadly E. coli bacteria in ground beef produced by a Nebraska Beef customer. In granting a temporary restraining ordering blocking the closure, the judge elevated the economic interests of a local employer over public health while questioning the government's power to act under current law.

All this has a familiar ring. Just two years ago, in a different case, a federal appeals court in New Orleans declared that the Agriculture Department lacked the power to close a Dallas beef processing plant that had failed three rounds of tests for Salmonella contamination in a year. Unfortunately, Congress and the Bush administration failed to heed the message of that misguided decision by passing a law that reaffirms the government's authority to enforce health standards.

Reacting to the new ruling, the Agriculture Department has decided to reach a settlement with the meat packer that allows the plant to continue to operate. It is hard to fault the department's lawyers for wanting to avoid a drawn-out court fight likely to result in an adverse final decision by the judge. But even now, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman refuses to acknowledge the grievous damage inflicted on her department's food safety efforts by the courts' suggestion that the government has no authority to close a plant based on public health considerations. She still hesitates to get behind legislation sponsored by Senators Tom Harkin of Iowa and Richard Durbin of Illinois, Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and others that would close this and other gaping holes in the nation's food safety system. That is inexcusable.

To her credit, Ms. Veneman has said she will seek $42 million more in funding next year for increased microbial testing of meat and poultry and other needed food safety initiatives. But more money and good intentions are no substitute for strong legislative action clarifying the government's power to enforce stringent safety standards.