Got a decision today in Merrifield v. Lockyer, the economic liberty case I argued before the Ninth Circuit a year and a month ago. It's a huge victory:
We conclude that mere economic protectionism for the sake of economic protectionism is irrational with respect to determining if a classification survives rational basis review. In doing so, we agree with the Sixth Circuit in Craigmiles and reject the Tenth Circuit’s reasoning in Powers v. Harris, 379 F.3d 1208, 1218-19 (10th Cir. 2004). Powers rejected the Sixth Circuit’s conclusion that economic protectionism for its own sake is irrational. Id. We do not disagree that there might be instances when economic protectionism might be related to a legitimate governmental interest and survive rational basis review. However, economic protectionism for its own sake, regardless of its relation to the common good, cannot be said to be in furtherance of a legitimate governmental interest.
I'll blog on this more later.
Update: Here is PLF's press release. You can read more about PLF's defense of economic freedom and property rights here.
Update 2: I have a fun exchange going on about the case in the comments at The Volokh Conspiracy.
Comments policy