Soothsayer speech: no fortunetelling ban.

• Author: Doherty, Brian
• Position: Citings - Brief article

THE CRYSTAL ball is dim, but spirits and signs indicate further victories for freedom of speech, even when money changes hands and consumer protection is allegedly at stake.

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In October a federal judge overturned a Livingston Parish, Louisiana, ban on "soothsaying, fortune telling, palm reading, clairvoyance, crystal ball gazing, mind reading, card reading and the like for a fee." U.S. District Judge James J. Brady ruled that the law, which was challenged by a store catering to the spiritual needs of Wiccans that hoped to move to the Livingston area, was a content-based prohibition that violated the First Amendment.

Robert McNamara, a lawyer at the Institute for Justice, is challenging another set of speech restrictions purportedly aimed at protecting consumers: Philadelphia's rules for historical tour...