Posted by Randy Barnett:
New Privileges or Immunities Clause Lawsuit Against Boston:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_02_15-2009_02_21.shtml#1234969474
This morning, the [1]Institute for Justice brought a lawsuit against
the City of Boston asserting it's clients rights under the Privileges
or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The new lawsuit
involves a Cambridge tour operator who wants access to the Charles
River via a boat launch ramp that is located in Boston. Boston refuses
to give the licenses that would permit the operator to cross the
Longfellow Bridge on its way to the boat ramp. Although the aspect of
the lawsuit asserting the right to pursue a lawful occupation free of
unreasonable regulation challenges the 1873 opinion in [2]The
Slaughter-House Cases, the lawsuit also cleverly asserts the right of
access to navigable waterways that was affirmed in dicta in
Slaughter-House. The Boston Globe has a favorable editorial this
morning [3]here including this excerpt:
A moratorium on new sightseeing vehicles may have made sense during
Big Dig construction. But the Big Dig is over, and so is the need
for such stringent traffic precautions. Further, the moratorium
appears to have lifted for current operators who were granted 11
new licenses since 2000, according to the lawsuit. That's powerful
evidence for the Institute for Justice's contention that the
snubbing of Tyler is nothing more than government protection of an
"entrenched cartel" favoring the seven operators who now control
the 107 sightseeing licenses in Boston. . . . Absent any concern
for the health and safety of the public, the moratorium, especially
if applied selectively, is little more than a means to tread on the
economic liberties of entrepreneurs.
Wow! Yes, that was the Boston Globe. [4]Here is a story about the
lawsuit in today's Boston Herald. The following video shows the
innovative watercraft that the tour operator intends to use, and an
explanation of the case by IJ attorney Jeff Rowes and his client
Erroll Tyler. [Full disclosure: the video also includes brilliant
legal commentary from a member of the Georgetown Law faculty. *s*]
[EMBED]
References
1. http://www.ij.org/
2. http://www.oyez.org/cases/1851-1900/1872/1872_2/
3.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/02/18/bostons_tour_protectionism/
4. http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1152882
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