In the fall of 2009, more than one year before Dave and Jenifer Roland founded the Freedom Center of Missouri, an African-style hair braider named Salimato Kouyate contacted Dave to ask for help. The Missouri Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners had sued her, trying to put her out of business because she earned money by braiding hair and had not first completed the 1,500 hours’ worth of training that state law requires to act as a licensed cosmetologist. That…
Recent publicity has resulted in a spike in the number of people trying to learn about the Freedom Center of Missouri and the work that we do. If you’re one of the folks just now hearing about our work, we’re glad you’re checking out our website. The “About Us” section will give a general overview of our mission, our staff, and our Board of Directors, but in this post we wanted to highlight several of the successes we’ve seen over…
Missouri’s Western District Court of Appeals ruled today that the state can make it a criminal offense for non-veterinarians to provide basic animal husbandry services to Missouri’s livestock owners. Noting that the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board had threatened criminal prosecution against a wide range of animal husbandry workers, including those engaged in such common, basic tasks as castrating or dehorning cattle, the court ruled the government may impose criminal penalties if these non-veterinarian workers are paid for their labor, despite…
The Freedom Center is happy to announce that the briefing stage of Brooke Gray’s Animal Husbandry Freedom appeal is now complete. The Western District Court of Appeals is expected to put this case on its docket for oral argument some time next February or March. In our Reply Brief (below) we point out the numerous falsehoods, mischaracterizations, and absurdities of the argument the Attorney General’s Office included in their brief. We believe that we have a compelling, well-supported argument – now…
On February 8, 2012, the Freedom Center submitted these five pages of testimony to the Missouri General Assembly, discussing the way that certain professional association’s lobbyists hoodwink legislators into passing laws that hurt consumers and deprive citizens of their right to earn a living in common occupations.
On January 4, 2012, Dave Roland gave this speech (text version may be found below) at the state capitol in Jefferson City, explaining the historical context for Article I, Section 2, of the Missouri Constitution. That provision reads: “All constitutional government is intended to promote the general welfare of the people; all persons have a natural right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry; all persons are created equal and…
In this presentation, which took place while Dave and Jenifer were still working for the Show-Me Institute, Dave explains the origins and outcomes of occupational licensing laws. As the title of the presentation says, “If You Aren’t Outraged, You Aren’t Paying Enough Attention.”
The Freedom Center of Missouri has asked the United States Supreme Court to consider whether the First Amendment allows the Missouri Supreme Court to presume that government restrictions on speech are constitutional and to require the speaker to prove the law unconstitutional. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office responded to our Petition by trying to mislead the justices about the First Amendment arguments the Freedom Center has made and also by trying to pretend that the Missouri Supreme Court’s explanation for…
On December 1, 2011, two venerable organizations in the Freedom Movement – the Cato Institute and Pacific Legal Foundation – joined forces to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to consider our Kansas City Premier Apartments case. We are extremely honored that these organizations believe in the importance of our case and that they were willing to devote time and resources to advancing our cause.