Sea Captain Tries to Torpedo Unconstitutional Monopoly

http://www.ij.org/donate

Captain Matthew Hight thought he would earn a living navigating cargo carriers on the Great Lakes. Instead, an unholy alliance of a federal bureaucracy and a legalized monopoly suddenly rendered him a castaway. Now he’s setting sail with the Institute for Justice to get his job back and ensure that no one else has their livelihood taken away because the government has delegated lawmaking power to a self-interested private organization.

Captain Hight sailed the world’s oceans for over twenty years, for eight of them as a ship’s captain. But all that time at sea takes its toll. Many American captains come back to the United States and work as a pilot in one of our many ports and waterways. Captain Hight tried to do just that for one of the most challenging waterways—the St. Lawrence Seaway. It connects the American and Canadian ports of the Great Lakes with the rest of the world. Captain Hight applied to train with the St. Lawrence Seaway Pilots’ Association, was accepted, and then worked in its training program for over two years.

He did well in the program, piloting ships on Lake Ontario (where trainee pilots are allowed to work). After two years, the association was about to recommend him to the U.S. Coast Guard (the federal agency that regulates Great Lakes pilots). But after a disagreement with the association president, the association suddenly informed the Coast Guard that they recommended against granting Captain Hight a license. The Coast Guard deferred to the association and suddenly he found himself marooned with no license, no job, and no way to go back to work.

The association provided the Coast Guard a couple flimsy reasons why it was not granting Captain Hight its blessing. The first was that Captain Hight used profanity on a job. That’s right, he was charged with swearing like a sailor. The second was that he failed to report a minor accident; an accident he didn’t cause and at first didn’t even know about.
The retaliation was possible because the Coast Guard has delegated its authority to the association, giving it an absolute veto over who can become a pilot. There is no other path to becoming a pilot on the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario other than through the association’s training program. Captain Hight appealed to the Coast Guard to follow its own written rules and regulations (which do not require association approval), but it denied his appeal. He’s now taking his case to federal court in an effort to get back to work and end this unconstitutional system for anyone else who wants to travel in his wake.

http://www.ij.org
Donate to IJ: https://ij.org/support/give-now/