Cases

IJ Defends Would-Be Florists from Louisiana's Anti-Competitive Licensing Scheme
Meadows v. Odom 

IJ Client Shamille Peters

This case was first filed in 2005 but pulled due to Hurricane Katrina and other unforeseeable situations.  Information on the current case, Chauvin v. Strain, can be found here  

Why would the Louisiana Horticulture Commission force a florist to either throw away seven perfectly fine floral displays or be fined $250?  Because would-be Baton Rouge florist Sandy Meadows, like so many other women, has been unable to pass a highly subjective State-mandated floral exam—an exam graded by existing florists in the state who have a vested interest in keeping her out of work.

No other state in the nation requires a licensing exam for florists, and it is easy to understand why.  Consumers—not bureaucrats—can best decide which florists are good and which are not.

On December 18, 2003, the Institute for Justice filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Meadows and two other would-be Louisiana florists against the Louisiana Horticulture Commission seeking to have the State’s anti-competitive, anti-consumer florist licensing law declared unconstitutional.  The lawsuit seeks to vindicate their right to economic liberty—the right to earn an honest living free from excessive government regulation.