Speaking of local governments, the Court wrote: 161 (1907), in which the Court upheld legislation that permitted Pittsburgh to annex the neighboring city of Allegheny over the opposition of a majority of voters in the latter city.
Probably the most famous example is Hunter v. The Supreme Court has on numerous occasions held that the Contract Clause does not protect local governments from legislative actions changing charters or statutes applicable to the governments. Constitution that protect individuals and private entities from certain governmental actions were not intended to override that basic state–local relationship and so do not protect local governments.Ĭontract Clause. “The United States Supreme Court has been well aware of the traditional authority of state legislatures over local government and has held that various provisions of the U.S. In this section, David explains that in recognition of the broad authority of states to control local governments, the United States Supreme Court has held that certain US Constitutional provisions, specifically the Contracts Clause, Due Process Clause, and Equal Protection Clause, do not protect local governments against state legislative action. The following is an excerpt from that bulletin. And the Contract Clause ( Article I, section 10, clause 1) prohibits the state from enacting any law that retroactively impairs contract rights.īut do these Constitutional protections extend to local governments? Does the Due Process Clause, for example, require that a state legislature provide notice and an opportunity to be heard to a local government before deannexing property within the local unit’s territorial jurisdiction? Or does the Contracts Clause prohibit the state from requiring that a local government utility cease providing service in a particular area, over the objection of local officials? As my colleague, David Lawrence, explains in a recent Local Government Law Bulletin, Judicial Doctrines that Differentiate Local Governments and Private Persons or Entities, the answer is no. The Equal Protection Clause ( Fourteenth Amendment), prohibits the state from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. For example, the Due Process Clause ( Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments) safeguards against arbitrary denial of life, liberty, or property by the government. The United States Constitution includes many provisions that protect persons and entities from government action.
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