Is Tattoo Artistry Protected by the First Amendment? 9th Circuit to Decide
A tattoo artist who wants to relocate his business to Hermosa Beach, Calif., is asking a federal appeals court to make it possible.
Tattooing isn’t allowed under Hermosa Beach’s zoning laws, and tattoo artist Johnny Anderson says the ban is a violation of his First Amendment rights, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Anderson owns the Yer Cheat’n Heart tattoo parlor in Gardena, Calif., but he says the neighborhood is too seedy, the story says. He wants to relocate in an area that will attract walk-in customers willing to pay his $150-an-hour fees. Hermosa Beach is wrong to believe that tattoos attract a bad clientele, he says. One in five American adults has at least one tattoo, he says in legal papers.
A federal judge ruled in 2008 that Anderson’s tattooing was “not sufficiently imbued with elements of communication” to qualify as constitutionally protected speech, the story says. Anderson’s chances are better in the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to University of California at Berkeley law professor Jesse Choper.
“If it’s art, it’s art, and art gets protection,” Choper told the newspaper. The court is likely to strike down a complete ban, he said, although regulations on the practice might be upheld.
