Articles

PLF receives requests for assistance all the time. Although any request may turn into a major civil rights lawsuit, we must turn down the vast majority of these requests. PLF subsists on the generous contributions of our donors, and we need to use those donor dollars judiciously. Accordingly, we select only those rare cases where there … ...

Ndioba Niang and Tameka Stigers are professional African-style hair braiders in Missouri. When the Missouri Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners told them that they had to stop practicing their trade unless they underwent hundreds of hours of irrelevant training (and paid thousands of dollars for the trouble) to be licensed as cosmetologists ...

There’s some great news out of Oklahoma to announce. Oklahoma officials have agreed to (and the Court has signed off on) a stipulation to stay enforcement of Oklahoma’s American Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act while PLF’s challenge to the law is pending. If you’ll recall, in November PLF challenged that law on behalf of a ...

Earlier this week I praised Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin for forming a task force to review the need for the state to continue licensing so many occupations. Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered that a brand new occupational license for music therapists went into effect just last month in Oklahoma. As I’ve previously written about ...

Earlier this month, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin announced the formation of a task force to review the state’s occupational licensing requirements. Throughout 2017 the task force will comprehensively review all of Oklahoma’s occupational licenses with an eye toward determining whether the amount and degree of licensing is necessary, a ...

Occupational licensing has run amok.  Nearly a third of Americans need government permission in the form of a “license,” just to lawfully do their job.  These laws contribute to what Timothy Sandefur has called a “Permission Society,” and they make it harder for people to earn a living.  Worse, they are often enacted at t ...

Almost a year ago I wrote about a bill pending in the New Jersey legislature that would’ve created an occupational license for music therapists in the state. Fortunately, that bill didn’t make it through the legislature, and the legislative session ended before the bill could get a full vote. Rather than die with dignity, however, R ...

Peggy Fontenot is an award-winning American Indian photographer and artist, specializing in hand-made beaded jewelry and cultural items. For more than 30 years, Ms. Fontenot has traveled the country to show and sell her American Indian art. Because of Oklahoma’s deep connections with American Indian history and culture, Ms. Fontenot has regul ...

Earlier this month California’s Little Hoover Commission released its report (Jobs for Californians: Strategies to Ease Occupational Licensing Barriers) on occupational licensing in the state. Noting that licensing is often sold as a means to protect consumers while actually serving other interests—namely, economic protectionism for cu ...