Leftist Insanity: Braiding hair is illegal

Oregon Big Government says:  "Don't touch that hair."
Amber Starks (left), who is fighting to change state law to allow hair braiders to work without earning a full cosmetology license.  

Bi-Partisan Socialist Insanity  -  Both parties use licensing laws to prevent people from going into business and earning a living

• Both Liberal and Conservative states make going into business harder and harder.
• To braid hair Oregon requires 1,700 hours of "training" and up to $20,000 in tuition.  Only then will Big Brother Government allow you to touch a human hair.

In the 1950s, one out of every 20 U.S. jobs required a state license. Since then, our economy has evolved from one based on manufacturing to one dominated by service professions. Today, almost 1 in 3 American occupations requires a license from Big Government so people can earn a living.

Concern about workplace over-regulation began as a libertarian issue. But thanks to the recession, it's now firmly in the mainstream as more and more Americans, facing often involuntary career changes, bump into unexpected regulatory obstacles to do business.
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It has been a libertarian cause that excessive licensing requirements disproportionately hurt poorer Americans and newly arrived immigrants -- people who might hold down high-tech office jobs but have practical skills to contribute.

"A lot of these restrictions were put in place with good intentions, but now they actually hinder the push for sustainability," said Clark Williams-Derry, research director with the Sightline Institute, a think tank in Seattle whose director recently noted in a report that getting a license to style hair in Washington takes more instructional time than becoming an emergency medical technician or a firefighter.

Traditional African braiding -- the art of weaving hair into tight snakelike rows, often with extensions or beads -- has become a common battle ground in the war over occupational licensing. Braiding is a skill many women of color learn as children and offers easy entry into the business world because so few tools are required. Braiders don't use chemicals, heat or scissors.

Yet many states require braiders to earn a cosmetology license. In Oregon, that means spending up to 1,700 hours in beauty school, where tuition can run anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000.      (Oregon Live.com)

Untangling African Hairbraiders from Utah's Cosmetology Regime 

A Victory in Utah

• Judge throws out insane Utah law.
• A Utah cosmetology license to braid hair requires 2,000 hours of school and tuition that can reach $16,000.

Jestina Clayton of Centerville, Utah ran a home business braiding hair in the African style she learned growing up Sierra Leone until she discovered it was against Utah law because she didn't have a cosmetology license.

Utah would not allow Jestina Clayton to
braid hair for a living.

Clayton sued the state Department of Professional Licensing in April 2011, claiming the state's requirements for obtaining a license have nothing to do with her job and are an unconstitutional infringement on her right to earn a living.

U.S. District Judge David Sam agreed this week.

"Utah’s cosmetology/barbering licensing scheme is so disconnected from the practice of African hair braiding, much less from whatever minimal threats to public health and safety are connected to braiding, that to premise Jestina’s right to earn a living by braiding hair on that scheme is wholly irrational and a violation of her constitutionally protected rights," the judge wrote.
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Clayton said she plans to apply for a business license next week and hopes to be working by September.     (Deseret News)

“Why I would need a permit for a pumpkin carving?”

• Government makes it illegal to host a birthday party, sell produce or wine.
• Her business is now closed.

Pitchfork-wielding Virginia farmers rallied to support a woman who claims local officials came down on her for, among other things, hosting a children's birthday party on her spread.

Martha Boneta, owner of Liberty Farms in the northern village of Paris, was threatened with nearly $5,000 in fines for selling produce and crafts and throwing unlicensed events, including a birthday party for her best friend's child. She told FoxNews.com she wasn't doing anything farmers haven't done for generations, and at a recent zoning board meeting, her agrarian friends literally showed up with pitchforks to express their support.

“It’s rather odd that I’m the only farmer in the county having these issues,” Boneta said. “It’s customary to do these things. It’s done through on farms throughout Virginia to help farming and agriculture.”

Boneta was told that she did not have the proper event permits for the party and other events, including wine tastings, craft workshops, and pumpkin carving.

“Why I would need a permit for a pumpkin carving?” she said.

Boneta was also threatened with fines for selling produce and products not grown or made on the 70-acre farm in a small store she operated on the property. But she said she already had a special license issued to her in 2011 that allowed her to run a “retail farm shop” where at the time, she made it clear that she intended to sell handspun yarns and craft items like birdhouses in addition to fresh vegetables, eggs, and herbs.

Boneta has since closed up the store but is still farming her 70-acre property, preparing for the upcoming harvest and will be meeting with the other county farmers to plan the next step in protesting the zoning boards handling of the situation.

“This affects every farmer. It affects our ability to earn a living to produce and sell on our own land,” she said.

Read more: (Fox News)

Making everyone equally poor since 1917.