Tarot Law and Legislation Project 2009/2010

templumkat

Hello All

I've now started working on a one-year project to collate applicable law, guidance, regulation and ordinances across the USA relating to Tarot reading. Often this may be found under more general regulations governing all "psychic advice services" including astrology, palmistry and other methods of divination.

I have now completed this for the UK/Europe, but need far more information for the US, as the law varies widely across States and even by town. It may also - as in the UK/Europe - fall under a variety of trade laws, marketing guidance and regulatory advertising practices.

If you have links, examples or references to such law in your area, at any level, i.e. state, county, town, please let me know. I am specifically interested in actual primary law, legislation or court cases, rather than "opinion" or "interpretation" (unless legal).

May a full deck of possibilities be yours,

Marcus Katz
 

Teheuti

Marcus -

You'll sometimes find fortune-tellers on the outskirts of towns because the town may have a law banning fortune-tellers but the county doesn't.

The ACLU is often called in to handle legal cases involving fortune-telling as part of their free speech activism. So far they've won most (if not all) of their cases:

http://www.gazette.net/stories/07102009/montnew110900_32542.shtml
http://www.aclu-md.org/aPress/Press2009/070909_Fortuneteller.html
http://blog.thehumanist.com/?p=1637

http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/11183prs20040607.html
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=11757

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-36585389_ITM

Marion Fortune-Telling Ordinance -- Last year, an individual named William Reese Smith applied for a fortune teller license in Marion [North Carolina], only to discover that the license fee for “fortune tellers, clairvoyants and gypsies” was 50 to 100 times greater than for almost any other business. On December 19, 2007, ACLU-NCLF sent a letter to the Marion City Attorney, arguing that the fee violated Mr. Smith’s rights under the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The ACLU-NCLF asked the City to rescind the fortune teller license fee and award Mr. Smith an appropriate business privilege license to practice his art in the City of Marion. In response, the City Council significantly reduced the fee for fortune-telling.

This trick of charging outrageous sums for a special license or bond is used by some cities. Generally it is deemed unlawful if brought to trial.

Marks v. City of Jonesboro, 1:06-CV-01904-CC (N.D. Ga. 2006)
Fortuneteller Not Allowed to Charge for Services
In August of 2006, a woman who wanted to open a fortune telling business filed for a business license with the City of Jonesboro [Georgia]. The City informed her that a local ordinance banned fortune telling and similar businesses. The woman was permitted to open her business as long as she did not charge her customers money or accept donations for her fortune telling services.
The city ordinance, in effect, amounted to a ban on fortune telling and similar businesses because individuals could not charge for their services.
After the ACLU of Georgia filed suit and a hearing was held on the merits, the parties entered into a settlement agreement that called for (1) a repeal of both city and county fortune telling ordinances; (2) assurance that a business license would be issued to our client; and (3) damages and fees.

Mary
 

Sinduction

I've been through the Ohio Revised Code, as well as my city and county codes and I have found nothing that mentions tarot or fortune telling or palmistry. I did find a few laws that were repealed but they were deleted so I'm not sure if there were such laws at one time. I'm willing to bet there were though.

In my community, tarot is allowed and well respected. If the police were to come after those of us professionally practicing, it would have to be for fraud.

I'm not sure if that helps you or not but wanted to pass it along anyway.

I think it's Pennsylvania somewhere that recently had a problem. Pittsburg maybe, or Philadelphia?

Good luck with your project. :D