"...in 1961, New York City declared it “unlawful for any person to tattoo a human being,” a prohibition that remained on the books for nearly four decades, until the city finally re-legalized the tattoo trade in 1997...
The story of New York City’s tattoo ban presents the classic case of government regulators using a bogus public health pretext to hound an unpopular activity out of existence. Pointing to a non-existent link between tattooing and a minor outbreak of Hepatitis B, city health officials went on the attack, declaring, “the tattoo industry, from a public health point of view...[is] not regulatable.” According to the government, only a total ban would save the citizenry. Fred Grossman, a tattooist who worked out of a shop in Coney Island, brought suit, charging the city with an illegitimate exercise of power. But when his case finally reached the courtroom, Grossman hit the brick wall of judicial deference to government regulation.
...New York City’s tattoo artists, who remained outlaws until the ban was finally lifted in 1997. What prompted the change? As Mayor Rudolph Giuliani observed in March of that year, “operation of a tattoo establishment in New York City is illegal, however such establishments do currently operate in the City without regulations.” And even though such tattooing had been going on in the shadows, “there has not been a single documented case of Hepatitis B in New York City transmitted by tattooing in almost 40 years since the ban was enacted.” Legalization was long overdue. To be sure, tattooing never should have been made illegal in the first place, and the state courts should have done their jobs by overruling the capricious legislation. But at least the city finally came to its senses. That’s more than can be said for many other government actions."
Now I want a cookie.
This dude gets it.
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