Cato: Constitutional Defects Big Enough to Drive a (Food) Truck Through

Imagine that it’s your first day at a new job. As you endure the tedious onboarding process, an interesting tidbit catches your attention; among the perks of your new position, you will be issued a company car and cell phone. “Sweet!” you exclaim, now more confident than ever of having made the right career move. But your enthusiasm drops precipitously as you learn that GPS devices have been installed on both the car and phone, allowing the company to continuously track your location. And your shock turns to horror when you are informed that the (mandatory) use of these items requires that you consent to the police having unfettered access to the resulting information, thus waiving your Fourth Amendment rights. While commenting on what a huge mistake accepting the position was on your way out the door, HR drops perhaps the biggest bombshell of all: “Sorry you feel that way, but it’s the city’s rule, not ours, and every other company in the field has the exact same rules… so good luck finding another job!”

Incredibly, such a dystopian scenario could become commonplace if the City of Chicago has its way.

LMP Services is a company owned by Laura Pekarik, who has operated the “Cupcakes for Courage” food truck since 2011. About a year after starting her business, Chicago passed ordinances requiring food trucks to install GPS trackers and to refrain from operating within 200 feet of established restaurants. LMP then sued to prevent enforcement of these laws—and is capably represented by our friends at the Institute for Justice.

While this case ostensibly involves food trucks in Chicago, if the Fourth Amendment fails to protect against laws like these, then there is very little to prevent cities and states across the country from extending similar regulations to virtually any other disfavored economic activity. In erroneously ruling that these requirements don’t involve an unreasonable search and don’t intrude on any liberty interests, the Illinois Appellate Court employed two lines of reasoning.

Read more at https://www.cato.org/blog/holes-illinois-courts-logic-are-big-enough-drive-food-truck-through