IBRAHIM V. MILWAUKEE
Case Name: Ibrahim v. City of Milwaukee
Type of Case: Economic Liberty
Court: Court of Appeals, District I
Case Number: 13-AP-1710 (Court of Appeals); 11-CV-5178 (Milwaukee County Circuit Court)
Filed On: September 27, 2011
Current Status: Taxi cab cap struck down as unconstitutional; On appeal
Since the 1970s, Milwaukee has had an arbitrary limit on the number of taxi cab licenses issued by the city. As a result, the value of one of these licenses has soared to over $150,000. The net effect of such a system is that the lucky few who had licenses when the cab was instituted now can require anybody who wants to drive a taxi in Milwaukee work for them; new entry into the industry as a cab owner is prohibitively expensive.
The Institute for Justice brought a lawsuit in 2011 challenging the law as being an unconstitutional violation of economic liberty. Judge Jane Carroll agreed, striking down the ordinance in April, 2013. The City appealed, and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Southeastern Wisconsin Taxi Drivers Association.