A Hanover, PA proprietor is facing fines & jail time for supposedly breaking a state law against tarot reading. The local police have threatened to arrest her. A lawsuit has been filed.
"Breaking the 163-year-old law is punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine, the lawsuit said.
A Pennsylvania fortune teller is suing local law enforcement and local government claiming that an 1861 statute banning tarot reading for profit is unconstitutional, violating their free speech protections. The lawsuit, filed Aug. 19 on behalf of Beck Lawrence, owner of The Serpent’s Key Shoppe & Sanctuary, names Hanover Chief of Police Chad Martin and Hanover Borough as defendants.
McClatchy News reached out to the defendants on Aug. 23 for comment but did not immediately hear back. “Martin and another unidentified officer entered my place of business, denied me the right to record our conversation, and then threatened to arrest me for up to a year or charge me a $2500 fine for…tarot reading,” Lawrence said in an Aug. 21 Facebook post recounting the October 2023 incident. “While they assured me verbally they weren’t taking me to jail that day... if they had any other credible reports of fortune telling, they would be back and would take action,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence seeks declaratory and injunctive relief as well as a jury trial, according to the lawsuit. “I’m willing to take this fight up to the Supreme Court if I have to,” Lawrence told WGAL. 1861 FORTUNE TELLING STATUTE Enacted in 1861, Pennsylvania’s Fortune Telling statute states that a person is guilty of a misdemeanor if one “pretends” to tell fortunes or predict the future for “lucre,” or profit, according to the lawsuit. The statute prohibits future and fortune telling “by cards, tokens, inspection of the head or hands of any person, or by the age of anyone, or by consulting the movements of the heavenly bodies, or in any other manner,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit argues that the statute is a content-based free-speech restriction “not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest.” “Telling fortunes is simply speech, even if done in exchange for lucre,” the lawsuit said. “At its most basic levels, tarot card readings are a form of entertainment and a bonding activity,” the lawsuit said, adding that Lawrence shares a disclaimer with customers that readings “should not be used as professional advice.” Not having “pretend” defined in the context of the statute also means a person who “sincerely believes” they can forecast the future would still be criminally liable if the government determines all fortune tellers are “pretending,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit points to Pennsylvania’s legal allowance of fortune cookies, the sale of Magic 8 Balls, sports betting, weather forecasts, and free fortune telling as evidence of the statute’s “unprincipled” application.
Other legal experts say the law is in place to protect “gullible people from being ripped off” despite disclaimers from fortune tellers that their services are for entertainment purposes only. Attorneys representing Lawrence are asking the court to rule that the statute violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Hanover, PA is about a 120-mile drive southwest of Philadelphia." - Fortune teller threatened with jail for breaking 1861 law, Pennsylvania suit says
NOTE: This is a continuing legal case occurring in my community. I have been to the Serpent's Key on several occasions and have talked to Beck and others. It's high time that this antiquated thinking and archaic law is put to rest. I have offered any assistance that I can provide to end this senseless harassment. Lon
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