Lieberman v. Van De Carr, 199 U.S. 552 (1905)

Lieberman v. Van de Carr


No. 71


Argued November 9, 1905
Decided December 11, 1905
199 U.S. 552

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Syllabus

A state has the right, in the exercise of the police power and with a view to protect the public health and welfare, to make reasonable regulations in regard to such occupations as may, if unrestrained, become unsafe or dangerous, and the conferring of discretionary power upon administrative boards to grant or withhold permission to carry on such a trade or business is not violative of the Fourteenth Amendment. There is no presumption that a power granted to an administrative board will be arbitrarily or improperly exercised, and this Court will not interfere with the exercise of such a power where the record does not disclose any ground on which the board acted.

It is primarily for the state to select the businesses to be regulated, and if those selected are proper subjects for regulation, those engaged therein are not denied the equal protection of the laws because other businesses are not subjected to similar regulations, provided all engaged in the same business are treated alike.

Section 66 of the Sanitary Code of the City of New York, regulating the sale of milk in that city, as the same has been construed by the highest court of that state, held not violative of the Fourteenth Amendment as depriving those engaged in that business of their property without due process of law or denying them the equal protection of the laws.