On October 5, 2023, a personal violation of my constitutional rights occurred. Hanover Police Chief Chad Martin and another unidentified officer entered my place of business. They denied me my constitutional right to record the encounter and threatened me with criminal penalties—including $2500 in fines and up to a year in jail—if I perform tarot card readings in my establishment.

As Hanover Borough Police Chief Chad Martin is certainly aware, officers may not enforce “a law so grossly and flagrantly
unconstitutional that any person of reasonable prudence would be bound to see its flaws" as clearly defined in Michigan v. DeFillippo, 443 U.S. 31, 38 (1979). Nor may an officer selectively enforce a law in retaliation for an individual engaging in constitutionally protected activity, such as freedom of speech or religion. 

(see also, e.g., Lawrence v. Reed, 406 F.3d 1224 (10th Cir. 2005) (denying qualified immunity where official relied on obviously unconstitutional ordinance); Carey v. Nevada Gaming
Control Bd., 279 F.3d 873, 881 (9th Cir. 2002) (same).)

The Fortune Telling Law at issue here is blatantly unconstitutional for numerous reasons.

As an initial matter, fortune telling is simply speech. And as the Supreme Court recognizes, speech does not lose its constitutional protections because it is uttered in exchange for payment.Therefore, enforcement of this Law is an unconstitutional restriction on my—and anyone else’s—liberty to engage in professional speech through fortune telling.

Second, even if fortune telling did not constitute speech, the Fortune Telling Law would still be an obviously unconstitutional deprivation of an individual’s right to earn a living through their chosen profession. In Pennsylvania, lawmakers may not impose economic-liberty restrictions that are “unreasonable, unduly oppressive or patently beyond the necessities of the case.” ( Ladd v. Real Estate Commission, 230 A.3d 1096, 1108–09 (Pa. 2020) (internal quotation omitted).) Yet, here, the Fortune Telling Law imposes a blanket ban on activity such as tarot card reading without any relation to the public interest. This type of absolute bar on an entire category of economic activity is intolerable under the Pennsylvania Constitution and cannot be enforced. (See Nixon v. Commonwealth, 839 A.2d 277, 288–90 (Pa. 2003))

Finally, the Fortune Telling Law is unconstitutionally vague, ambiguous, and arbitrary, particularly as to what constitutes “fortune telling.” To be sure, the Commonwealth permits businesses to make predictions about this Sunday’s football score and permits individuals to give money to the prediction-providers in the form of a “bet.”

To allow this type of exchange but prohibit individuals like myself  from providing tarot card readings—which are accompanied by unequivocal disclaimers that such readings are for entertainment purposes only—defies logic.

The absurdity and impropriety of attempting to enforce the Fortune Telling Law is reinforced by the fact that, excepting your actions here, this Law is generally unenforced and ignored in the Commonwealth. The unprompted threats against me have caused significant undue stress and chilled my constitutional rights to freedom of speech and economic liberty.

This incident is not just about me; it's about every citizen's right to freedom of speech and Religion as protected under the First Amendment. The law they invoked—Pennsylvania Title 18, Section 7104—is unconstitutional as it infringes on this fundamental right.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has long championed that laws like these are unconstitutional due to their infringement on free speech rights. According to their report "Free Speech Under Fire", such laws have been successfully challenged in courts across America.

We need your support now more than ever. By signing this petition, you're not only standing up for one individual's rights but also defending our collective freedom as citizens of Hanover, PA and indeed the United States.

Please sign this petition today and challenge the constitutionality of Pennsylvania Title 18, Section 7104!