"It should not take seven years and a team of lawyers to open a small business."

That quote is from Institute for Justice attorney Jeff Rowes, announcing a federal lawsuit filed today on behalf of Boston entrepreneur Erroll Tyler, whose attempts to start an amphibious sightseeing business have been thwarted by Boston police officials and a local cartel that controls every existing sightseeing license. Here's The Boston Globe's wonderfully libertarian take:

A Boston police spokeswoman says that the department is reviewing its policy on the sightseeing license moratorium. It should be reviewed, and then lifted. 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.

Click below to watch a 3-minute video on the case.

Comments

[Naga Sadow]

That vehicle he wanted to use is Teh AWESome! I want one! I hope he wins his suit.

[J sub D]

Boston, The Cradle of Liberty my ass.

Big city politics is always corrupt. I don't have a solution, just pointing out the fact.

[fish]

He's right, "It should not take seven years and a team of lawyers to open a small business."!

"It should take seven years and a team of lawyers to keep a small business open."

After all if it never opens there's really no opportunity for institutionalized plunder!

[Naga Sadow]

Well I'm thinking of starting a dealership for em down here in Biloxi. Does anyone have any idea how cool it would be to use these babies to escape the clutches of the police?

[J sub D]

Well I'm thinking of starting a dealership for em down here in Biloxi. Does anyone have any idea how cool it would be to use these babies to escape the clutches of the police?
I used to live in Gautier. An amphib would give the local constabulary Dukes od Hazzard type fits.

[Number 6]

Although I hope the man gets to open his business, predicating their case on the 14th Amendment seems like a bad idea. It will be a stretch to demonstrate that "privileges and immunities" includes specific types of business licenses.

[John C. Randolph]

That's what licensing is all about: preventing competition. Fuck the politicians and the business owners who are greasing them up.

-jcr

[John C. Randolph]

BTW, this is just a hunch, but I suspect that the existing tour operators are all owned by whites. Massachusetts and Boston government both have a really nasty racist streak, that goes all the way back to the days when Massachusetts prohibited any free blacks from settling in the state.

-jcr

[Shirt Boy]

Uh... sightseeing license ??

[J sub D]

BTW, this is just a hunch, but I suspect that the existing tour operators are all owned by whites. Massachusetts and Boston government both have a really nasty racist streak, that goes all the way back to the days when Massachusetts prohibited any free blacks from settling in the state.

Guess which major league baseball team was the last to hire a black player.

You only get three guesses and the first two don't count.

[John]

Where is Joe to defend Boston? Yes J Sub D it was the Red Sox. It was the Celtics and Red Auerbach who really introduced black atheletes to Boston.

One of the most ignorent statements ever made was when Spkie Lee called the Celtics "a symbol of white supremacy". Red Auerbach was the first GM to ever hire a black coach. He was the first coach ever to have an all black starting lineup. He did more for black athletes than almost anyone. It is amazing what an ingnorant moron Lee is.

[Ashley]

Boston PD... you don't say. Maybe he played with a Lite-Brite as a child or something.

Oh... I didn't see the video before. He's black. What a great fucking town Boston sounds like.

[JLM]

Isn't it politically incorrect to talk about "economic liberty" these days?

[John C. Randolph]

What a great fucking town Boston sounds like.

There are some wonderful people in Boston. They're not the ones who go into local politics.

-jcr

[juis imprudent]

Here's The Boston Globe's wonderfully libertarian take

As a good friend of mine says "the universe just loves irony".

[Noah]

I think what the city is doing is horrible. However, I think that the cited interpretation of the 14th Amendment is incorrect. More likely, in my view, is that the 14th Amendment incorporates the Bill of Rights but does not bar states from violating unenumerated "fundamental rights."

[R C Dean]

Sadly, the New Deal Court killed the concept of substantive due process (oversimplified, that government cannot treat two similarly situated persons differently, regardless of the process used), and instead went with pure due process (that as long as some process is used, the government is free to treat two similarly situated persons differently, within very broad boundaries).

[Russ 2000]

Guess which major league baseball team was the last to hire a black player.

The Arizona Diamondbacks.