Government Orders Barber with 50 Years Experience Back to School
Written by Brian Garst, Posted in Government Meddling, The Nanny State & A Regulated Society
I’ve written about the problems with government licensing schemes, and the Institute for Justice brings us yet another egregious example of this particular tool of government infringement on basic rights:
An 80-year-old barber cutting hair for 50 years now is told he has to go back to school.
He says the state never warned him his license was about to expire.
Americans have a constitutional right to earn a living in the occupation of their choice, free from unreasonable government interference.
What happened to this man is the very definition of unreasonable.
A properly engaged judiciary, is one that takes rights seriously, including the right to earn a living.
And it says to government officials you have to treat people reasonably, you have to respect their constitutional right to earn a living. The Institute for Justice created the Center for Judicial Engagement to educate the public about the importance of an engaged judiciary that will protect our constitutional rights including the right to earn a living.
And when we succeed, what you saw in this case the State of Oregon putting a man out of business who’s been cutting hair for 50 years,
That will never happen again.
Hat-tip: Hot Air
I serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.