On January 10, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision that upheld a Berkeley, California ordinance that imposed huge new liabilities on a company that operates a restaurant on land owned by Berkeley. The decision was a setback for WLF, which filed a brief urging the Court to grant review in order to prevent governments from adopting laws that impose increased costs on their lessees, above and beyond the costs imposed by the lease agreement. WLF argued that the ordinance violated the U.S. Constitution’s Contract Clause, which prohibits state and local governments from passing any laws that “impair[ ] the obligation of contracts.” WLF argued that before imposing the liabilities on the restaurant, Berkeley had signed a binding contract in which it agreed not to adopt laws imposing additional costs on the restaurant beyond those specified in the lease.