08-07-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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RELEVANT LINKS: League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 1/4/2016 Regulating Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants Page 16 This provision both: (1) grants the federal government a tremendous amount of authority over what would otherwise be local issues; and (2) limits what cities may do when their regulations might affect the movement of goods between states. The Commerce Clause substantially impacts the regulation of itinerant salespersons by local governments. C & A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown, 511 U.S. 383, 114 S. Ct. 1677 (1994). Bacchus Imports, Ltd. v. Dias, 468 U.S. 263, 104 S. Ct. 3049 (1984). The Commerce Clause prohibits state and local laws that promote local economic protection. An ordinance may establish local protectionism because of either a discriminatory purpose or discriminatory effect. The U.S. Supreme Court has invalided regulations that: Ward v. Maryland, 79 U.S. 418 (1870). •Required only nonresident merchants to obtain licenses. •Charged higher fees to nonresidents. •Prohibited merchants from using nonresidents as salespersons. These decisions are based in part upon the belief that the government may not prevent someone from traveling state-to-state to earn a living. Oregon Waste Sys. Inc. v. Dept. of Envtl. Quality of the State of Or., 511 U.S. 93, 114 S.Ct. 1345 (1994). State v. Schmidt, 280 Minn. 281, 159 N.W.2d 113 (1968). A local regulation is discriminatory if it provides different treatment to in- state and out-of-state economic interests, benefiting the former and burdening the later. Restrictions that discriminate on interstate commerce are virtually per se invalid. For example, just as with equal protection challenges, a city ordinance that only required nonresident transient merchants to post a bond was an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce and unconstitutional. State v. Schmidt, 280 Minn. 281, 159 N.W.2d 113 (1968). Courts have held that formal licensing procedures and fees for solicitors, involved in interstate commerce (orders delivered from a different state at a later time) amount to an undue burden on commerce and violate the U.S. Constitution. Since residents and non-residents must be treated equally under the law, a prohibition on regulating out-of-state merchants creates a situation where in-state merchants may not be licensed as well. Wagner v. Covington, 251 U.S. 95, 40 S. Ct. 93 (1919). Peddlers and transient merchants have their goods within the state before the commercial transaction begins. Because of this, cities that license these classifications are not affecting interstate commerce. D.Freedom of religion U.S. Const. amend. I. Minn. Const. art. I, § 16. Freedom of religion is a constitutionally-protected right under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution. Int’l Soc’y for Krishna Consciousness v. City of Houston, 689 F.2d 541 (5th Cir. 1982). Various forms of conduct can fall within an individual’s freedom of religion, from pure speech, the sale of religious materials, or the request for donations. Cities must use caution when attempting to regulate religious solicitors because of their First Amendment rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion.