Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance has asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (D.D.C.) to grant summary judgment in Dreamland Baby Co. v. CPSC and order the commission to retract its unlawful statement disparaging weighted infant sleep products. CPSC refuses to retract its unsupported claim that weighted sleep swaddles and blankets, like those products our client Dreamland Baby and many other companies make, are unsafe. The agency’s refusal defies federal laws that require it to give a reasonable explanation for such actions and to ensure that the information it provides is accurate and not misleading. The D.D.C. should stop CPSC’s unjustified statement that has pushed Dreamland to the brink of going out of business.
Dreamland Baby founder and CEO Tara Williams created the company’s first weighted wearable sleep sack for her own son. The woman-owned small business has gone on to help more than a million families worldwide, and over 3.5 million of these types of products were sold in a decade. However, then-CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka—fired by President Trump last year along with two of his colleagues—made a proposal in fall 2023 to “pursue a mandatory standard to address foreseeable risks posed by” weighted infant sleep products. CPSC rejected that proposal by a 3-1 vote that November, with then-Chairman Alexander Hoehn-Saric saying the agency had not conducted enough research to pursue rulemaking on the issue yet.
Notwithstanding this lack of adequate research, CPSC published a warning on its website that parents and caregivers should not use weighted blankets or swaddles. But the agency has not adequately explained why or how it reached this conclusion. CPSC later denied Dreamland’s request to retract the warning, by blindly relying on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) recommendations that the products were unsafe for infant sleep. CDC and NIH did not independently investigate the validity of those recommendations made by a private, third-party organization.
To stop CPSC from harming businesses like Dreamland and misleading consumers, Congress passed a law that only allows the agency to issue statements about product safety or perceived safety concerns if those claims are accurate and not misleading. CPSC’s failures to reasonably explain why it issued and refuses to retract its weighted sleep swaddle and blanket warning are arbitrary and capricious, violating the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
The Administrative Record in this case, which judges must use to decide whether CPSC’s actions are legal, does not indicate how or on what basis CPSC made its decision, or whether the agency followed its congressionally-mandated procedures before issuing its warning statement. Failing to follow those procedures, and instead blindly relying on CDC and NIH recommendations (which in turn were blindly accepted from a third-party advocacy organization), constitutes arbitrary and capricious decision-making under the APA. To stop further harm, the district court should order CPSC to remove the statement from its website.
NCLA released the following statements:
“Fundamental administrative law requires CPSC to explain why it did what it did. Since CPSC refuses to explain, the district court should make the agency remove the unsubstantiated statement.”
— Kara Rollins, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA
“Weighted sleep sacks are beloved products by parents and caregivers. The ‘weight’ involved is about the same as a slice of processed cheese. CPSC violated the law when it failed to follow its own procedures and issued an unsubstantiated warning. The district court should uphold the law and force CPSC to retract its flawed statement.”
— Mark Chenoweth, President, NCLA
For more information visit the case page here.
ABOUT NCLA
NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLA’s public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans’ fundamental rights.
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Joe Martyak New Civil Liberties Alliance 703-403-1111 joe.martyak@ncla.legal
