Upholding the law in question, a U.S. District judge ruled that Missouri has the right to require barbers to obtain cosmetology licenses before being able to offer hair-braiding services associated with African-American patrons. This in spite of the fact that the licenses in question, despite requiring over 1,500 hours of study, do not touch on such practices at all.
The reasoning behind the judge’s ruling was as ridiculous as the ruling itself. According to Judge John M. Bodenhausen, the court is required to defer to the government because of the “rational basis standard”, which absurdly concludes that any regulation is legal so long as they are “reasonably” connected to public affairs:
“The problem with this approach is that it violates the original meaning of the Constitution. Specifically, it violates the original meaning of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted to prevent state officials from violating economic liberty in precisely this sort of fashion. As Republican Rep. John Bingham of Ohio, the primary author of Section One of the 14th Amendment, told the House of Representatives, the amendment was enacted in part to protect ‘the constitutional liberty…to work in an honest calling and contribute by your toil in some sort to the support of your self, to the support of your fellowmen, and to be secure in the enjoyment of the fruits of your toil.’ Judicial deference turns that constitutional safeguard on its head.
The time is long overdue for the federal courts to heed Bingham’s words and stop deferring to nonsensical economic regulations in the name of the misguided rational-basis test.”
Source: Reason
