Las Vegas Limousines
Clutter v. State of Nevada
IJ Wins Court Victory Vindicating Economic Liberty for Las Vegas Limo Operators
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William Clutter, John West and Rich Lowre want to compete with other limousine services in Las Vegas.
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In May 2001, the Institute for Justice scored a major legal victory for economic liberty on behalf of independent Las Vegas limousine operators. A Nevada court ruled that the State’s Transportation Services Authority (TSA) violated the constitutional rights of independent limousine operators who were unable to get limousine licenses due to the action of regulators and established limousine companies seeking to limit competition.
In his decision, Clark County District Court Judge Ron Parraguirre declared, “The right to earn a living in one’s chosen profession is a liberty interest protected by the due process clauses of both the U.S. and Nevada constitutions.”
Nevada’s onerous and arbitrary limousine licensing procedure, declared an unconstitutional violation of due process rights by Judge Parraguirre, was a classic case of regulatory “capture” by the regulated. The TSA allowed existing limousine companies to “intervene” in the administrative hearings for license applications from new companies; in other words, it allowed existing companies to protest in a government forum the entrance of new competitors into the market. Not surprisingly, from 1979 to 1998—the year the Institute for Justice filed suit against the agency to break up its state-enforced cartel—only four new companies were admitted to the market and they were only permitted to operate under onerous restrictions.
After IJ’s legal victory, client Ed Wheeler secured a limo license and now runs a successful and popular business, Omni Limo (www.omnilimo.com) in Las Vegas.