Advancing American Freedom led a coalition of 14 other conservatives filing an amicus brief in Carbin v. Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Plumbers and Gas Fitters, a case challenging a Massachusetts rule that prohibits homeowners from fixing plumbing in their own homes. In this case, Petitioner John Carbin wishes to do the plumbing for the house he is building for himself to live in.
When Mr. Carbin sought to challenge the policy, the district court dismissed his claims. Since the Constitution does not enumerate a “right to plumbing” and such a right has not been announced by the Supreme Court, the court said it was required to uphold the rule if it could find any plausible reason for the regulation.
To America’s Founders, the right to property was an essential element of liberty that protected the people against government overreach. Through the Fourteenth Amendment, the Constitution protects Americans at least against arbitrary infringements on their property rights. However, since the New Deal, the Supreme Court and lower courts have afforded property very little constitutional protection.
“The right to property was critical to the understanding of liberty of both the Founding generation and the Framers and ratifiers of the Reconstruction Amendments. Yet the Court’s current precedent provides inadequate, and often practically no protection for this foundational right, including government policies to take equity positions in companies” said AAF General Counsel J. Marc Wheat. “The Court should grant the petition for certiorari and establish a more robust standard that allows Americans like Mr. Carbin to make their claims in court.”