Agenda - 06-16-1987 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The United States and North Carolina constitutions guarantee all persons "the equal protection of the laws." It is a fundamental concept of equal protection that competing businesses must be treated the same by the government. As stated by the United States Supreme Court in Barbier v. Connolly, 113 U.S. 27, at 31 (1885): The 14th Amendment, in declaring that no State 'Shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protec- tion of the laws,' undoubtedly intended, not only that there should be no arbitrary deprivation of life or liberty or arbi- trary spoilation of property but that equal protection and security should be given to all under like circumstances in the enjoyment of their personal and civil rights; that all persons should be equally entitled to pursue their happiness and acquire and enjoy property . . . that no Lm pediment should be interl2osed to the pursuits of any one .except as apl2lied to the same pursuits by others under like circumstances; that no greater burdens should be laid upon one than are laid u on others in the same calling and condition [Emphasis Wd-d d.] The same basic precept has been stated time and time again by the courts. In Cotting v. Godard,-183 U.S.79, at 113 (1901), a case involving fees for use of a stockyard, the Supreme Court stated the rule this way: "[E]qual protection is denied when upon one of two parties engaged in the same kind of business and under the same conditions burdens are cast 'which are not cast upon the other." The County has now proposedo at the request. of Alert Cable, to reduce the quality standards for cable service - 6 -