Fighting Unfair Government Regulations

Fighting Unfair Government Regulations MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous A Minnesota farm family recently won a court battle against their local municipality challenging an ordinance that prohibited the sale of out-of-state produce at their on-farm greenhouse operation Their lawsuit was bankrolled by an independent legal group called the Institute For Justice that challenges unfair government regulations around the country Keith Bergmann and family live in the semi-rural community of Lake Elmo basically an outlying suburb of the Twin Cities In 2008 the town outlawed the sale of fresh farm produce from outside the limits of the city s sprawling borders The idea was to promote local farmer s markets and keep outsiders from profiting by selling to local citizens However farms with retail operations like the Bergmann family were badly hurt by the ruling because û among other things û they sell thousands of pumpkins and Christmas trees each year which come from out of state The family has operated Country Sun Farm & Greenhouse for more than 40 years With the help of the Institute For Justice the Bergmanns filed suit last spring challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance Last fall a Federal judge ruled that the city s ordinance unconstitutionally discriminates against interstate commerce He said the plaintiffs had clearly shown that the law virtually wiped out the local pumpkin and Christmas tree business Soon after the ruling the city modified its ordinance Now farmers need only apply for a simple permit to sell produce no matter where it originates The 20-year-old Institute for Justice headquartered in Arlington Va works with small business people and entrepreneurs across the country who have run into business-killing government roadblocks The Institute often challenges licensing and permiting laws designed not to protect the consumer but to protect an industry from new competition Some cases are strictly local while others have statewide or national implications For more information go to the Institute s website at www ij org or call 703 682-9321

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