Selevan v. N.Y. Thruway Auth., No. 07-0037

In a dormant Commerce Clause challenge to a toll policy of the New York Thruway Authority (NYTA) that afforded a discount to residents of a particular city in New York and denied the same benefit to all other New Yorkers and to all nonresidents of New York, dismissal of the complaint is affirmed in part where the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV of the Constitution does not apply to foreign citizens.  However, the order is reversed in part where: 1) the NYTA did not act as a "market participant" in setting the discriminatory toll rates; 2) plaintiffs did not allege that NYTA's toll policy specifically discriminated against interstate commerce, but the district court failed to resolve whether the policy inadvertently burdened interstate commerce; and 3) the district court erred in applying rational basis review to the policy under the Equal Protection Clause.

Read Selevan v. N.Y. Thruway Auth., No. 07-0037

Appellate Information

Argued: September 8, 2008

Decided: October 15, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Cabranes

Counsel

For Appellants:

Seth R. Lesser and Andrew P. Bell, Locks Law Firm PLLC, New York, NY

For Appellee:

Benjamin Gutman and Robert M. Goldfarb, Assistant Solicitor Generals, Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York, Albany, NY