C&A Carbone, Inc v. Town of Clarkstown
Case Date: 07/09/1994
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C&A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown, New York, 511 U.S. 383 (1994) was a case before the United States Supreme Court in which the plaintiff (known as "petitioners" by the Supreme Court), a private recycler with business in Clarkstown, New York, sought to ship its non-recyclable waste to cheaper waste processors out-of-state. Clarkstown opposed the move, and the company then brought suit, raising the unconstitutionality of Clarkstown's "flow control ordinance," which required solid wastes that were not recyclable or hazardous to be deposited at a particular private company's transfer facility. The ordinance involved fees that were above market rates. The Supreme Court sided with the plaintiff, concluding that Clarkstown's ordinance violated the Dormant Commerce Clause.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court held, "Discrimination against interstate commerce in favor of local business or investment is per se invalid," with a very narrow exception where the city can show, under rigorous scrutiny, that there are no other means to advance a legitimate local interest. In the case at hand, the city could have subsidized the waste disposal plant, which was at least one alternative to the discriminatory law that the city tried to use.
Justice KENNEDY delivered the opinion of the Court.
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