Defending the Right to Earn a Living in the Arkansas Supreme Court

Steven Hedrick ran a thriving small business that filled a void in rural Arkansas—until the government got in the way. “The city has prohibited me from doing business,” Steven says.

Now, Goldwater is going to the Arkansas Supreme Court, the seventh state high court where we’ve defended constitutional rights, to defend Steven’s right to earn a living.

Steven poured his heart and soul into his business—renting dumpsters to customers working on large projects then picking up the trash when they’re done—and he regularly gets calls from customers needing help. However, the city of Holiday Island has banned anyone from picking up solid waste, except for a specially chosen government-run waste company that isn’t even required to offer the same services Steven provides—services the people of Holiday Island desperately need.

That’s an illegal government-backed monopoly: 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 of its 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 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. This week, the Arkansas Supreme Court announced that it will hear the case.

This will be the seventh state supreme court where Goldwater attorneys have stood up for constitutional rights and limited government—in addition to the countless other state and federal courts around the country where Goldwater has brought lawsuits against overreaching government officials.

“You shouldn’t have to ask permission to put food on your table,” Steven explains. “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.”

In Arkansas and across the country, Goldwater will always fight to protect Americans’ freedom to earn an honest living in the profession of their choice.

Adam Shelton is a Staff Attorney at the Goldwater Institute.