Two Women Fight Pennsylvania for the Right to Earn an Honest Living

Amanda Spillane was finally getting her life on track. Having gotten hooked on drugs as a teenager, Amanda had committed several crimes and landed in prison for two years. When she got out, Amanda was determined not to waste the rest of her youth. She moved back in with her parents, started working full time at McDonalds, and spent nights attending cosmetology school so she could have a career. Amanda became passionate about cosmetology and even got a job offer at a salon before she finished school.

But when Amanda applied for her cosmetology license, the Pennsylvania Board of Cosmetology slammed the door on her dreams. The Board claimed Amanda lacked “good moral character” because of her past offenses and was thus unfit to give facials or tweeze hair. Amanda was shocked, heartbroken, and out of a job.

Amanda’s story is not unique. In recent years, dozens of other women have been denied licenses because of criminal convictions irrelevant to the practice of cosmetology. And would-be cosmetologists aren’t the only ones to suffer from this arbitrary standard. Pennsylvania requires “good moral character” for jobs ranging from landscape architect to poultry technician. Nationwide, there are about 30,000 “collateral consequence” laws like this one—laws that limit people’s right to work even after they have paid their debts to society.

Pennsylvania’s good-character requirement is not just unfair. It is unconstitutional. The Pennsylvania Constitution guarantees Amanda the right to work in her chosen field free of unreasonable laws. Good character has nothing to do with skincare or hair removal. It isn’t required for barbers. And in the rare case where an applicant’s background suggests she might harm someone, the Board has other authority to deny a license.

With help from the Institute for Justice, Amanda and another Pennsylvania woman denied a cosmetology license, Courtney Haveman, are suing to end this unconstitutional law. Requiring individuals to prove their good character to the government before they can work does nothing to protect the public. It just makes it harder for people to pull themselves up and provide for their families.

http://www.ij.org/case/pennsylvania-collateral-consequences
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