Occupational licensing boards are commonplace for countless professions throughout the country. Manicurists and nail salon owners are no different. In Louisiana, these professionals fall under the purview of the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology (LSBC).
The LSBC’s primary functions are licensing and enforcement of the State’s cosmetology laws and regulations.
The scope of the Board’s fining power is broad, starting with frequent inspections of businesses. The Board then levies civil fines for any violations it finds during an inspection. The fines start at a minimum of $25 per violation, but the Board nearly always levies the maximum permissible fine of $300 per violation—per day, for as long as a violation goes unresolved. The fines can quickly add up to thousands of dollars, which can be devastating to lower-income professionals such as manicurists or nail salon owners.
Worse, there’s little recourse for cosmetologists hit with fines; they can either pay up or request an administrative hearing to challenge the fine. But that hearing takes place before the Board itself—the same bureaucrats who oversee inspections, issue violation notices, and then levy and collect fines. The Board may even revoke their licenses, depriving them of their means to earn a living. And these hearings end with ruinous fines for the manicurist or cosmetologist. During the year July 2023 through June 2024, 100% of the cases at the LSBC resulted in the Board imposing monetary fines for reasons such as allowing unlicensed persons to work, operating an unregistered business, or using unauthorized equipment. That is, none of the 107 cases during this period arose out of a customer complaint or involved jeopardy to the health and safety of the public. This scheme is probably explained by the fact that the LSBC is funded exclusively through license fees and fines, which incentivizes boards like the LSBC to periodically sweep licensees’ bank accounts to fund itself.
The Seventh Amendment of the Constitution guarantees the right to a trial by jury in civil cases where the government seeks to deprive individuals of liberty or property. This means a real court of law, not an occupational licensing board’s collaged procedures in the board’s own makeshift hearing.
Juries have historically protected people from overzealous government enforcement by ensuring that the government proves its case before it gets to levy punishments. In a jury trial, it is a jury of your peers, not the government itself, that determines whether you broke the law and what an appropriate penalty should be. Without a jury, you’re at the whim of the government.
Unfortunately, the courts have thus far declined to extend the Seventh Amendment’s civil jury trial guarantee to the states. To protect the rights of all Americans, they should.
Licensed cosmetologists Amy Cao, Hien Hoang, Jan Thoa Nguyen, and Linda Ho and licensed manicurist Bich Doan Vo—represented free of charge by Pacific Legal Foundation, the Pelican Institute, and Cao Law Firm—are fighting back in a state lawsuit to affirm the right to jury trials when a licensing board seeks monetary fines through its in-house tribunals.
What’s At Stake?
- The right to a jury trial is fundamental to liberty and deeply rooted in the nation’s history and tradition. The Constitution’s Seventh Amendment requires trial by jury before the government can deprive individuals of liberty or property.
- Everyone should be guaranteed a jury trial when state regulators seek to fine them or revoke their occupational licenses, no matter what state they live in.
