ISMAIL v. City of Milwaukee

The City of Milwaukee ordinance bans food trucks after 10:00 p.m. in the downtown area and after 11:00 p.m. near Burnham Park. The new law is unconstitutional, violating the right to earn a living and the guarantee of equal treatment. WILL is seeking an emergency stay of the law, which takes effect at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday.

The stated rationale for this ordinance is equally as absurd as expecting patrons to eat their post-bar meal before 10:00 p.m.: that the food trucks are to blame for downtown Milwaukee’s violent crime problem. But using food trucks as a scapegoat for Milwaukee’s crime problem is a thinly veiled pretext for economic protectionism.

The ordinance author and one of its main public sponsors both revealed their true intention, which is the protection of brick-and-mortar restaurants from competition. But that is an illegitimate reason to interfere with food truck owners’ right to earn a living.

The Argument: We advance two primary legal arguments:

• The Ordinance violates Article I, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution by interfering with Mr. Ismail’s right to earn a living.
• The Ordinance violates Article I, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution by arbitrarily treating food trucks on Water Street differently than bars and restaurants on Water Street, thereby denying them equal protection under the law.