Like many entrepreneurs, Steven Hedrick has poured his heart and soul into his small business, a dumpster-rental company that fills an important niche in Northwest Arkansas. He’s invested his time and money in the business to provide for himself and his family.
But the city of Holiday Island is stifling Steven’s success and his right to earn a living with an unconstitutional ordinance that bans him from doing business in his community.
On Thursday, the Goldwater Institute argued before the Arkansas Supreme Court that Holiday Island’s ordinance—which authorizes only a single waste-removal company to operate—is an illegal government-backed monopoly. The selected company isn’t even required to offer the same services Steven provides—services the people of Holiday Island desperately need.
“Steven is providing a necessary and in-demand service in his community, which is why he continues to get calls from customers seeking his help. The government should not be standing in the way,” says Goldwater Institute attorney Adam Shelton. “We are hopeful that the Arkansas Supreme Court will protect Steven’s right to earn a living by declaring that Holiday Island violated the Arkansas Constitution when it granted a monopoly of roll-off dumpster rental services to one company but did not even require that company to provide those services.”
The Arkansas Constitution explicitly prohibits the government from granting monopolies, as they are “contrary to the genius of a republic.” In fact, the Arkansas Supreme Court has explained that monopolies crush competition and deny citizens their right to freely practice their chosen profession. This prohibition is so important that the court has also explained that “no amount of judicial interpretation should ever be permitted to cause the slightest deviation from the clear language of the constitutional inhibition.”
The ordinance also deprives Steven of his constitutionally protected right to earn a living. The Arkansas Constitution protects all the state’s residents’ right to acquire, possess, and protect property—and it prohibits the government from depriving an individual of life, liberty, and property without due process of law. This prohibition finds its roots in the Magna Carta, and it has long been interpreted as protecting an individual’s substantive right to earn a living. But the city of Holiday Island is imposing this exact prohibition on Steven—without any compelling reason to justify the deprivation.
That’s why Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit in 2023 on Steven’s behalf to challenge the illegal ordinance.
“You shouldn’t have to ask permission to put food on your table,” Steven says. “Every day that I’m not allowed to do this actually hurts me long-term. It’s angering. All my eggs are in this basket for the rest of my life.”
The Arkansas Supreme Court is the sixth state high court where the Goldwater Institute has defended constitutional rights. Goldwater will always fight to protect Americans’ freedom to earn an honest living in the profession of their choice.
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