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Licensing, And Administrative Procedure Acts, Homer W. Giles

Cleveland State Law Review

Licensing laws have proved to be very effective governmental regulatory devices. Although the supposed purpose of government in requiring a license for a particular activity is to regulate, "by a general formal denial of a right, which is then made individually available by an administrative act of approval, certification, consent or permit," the effect in many cases is actually to prohibit. While government should be permitted to prohibit activities which it regards with disfavor, it should not be permitted to allow an administrative agency to deprive a person of a license for a business or occupation, otherwise lawful, without giving …