Court Says Neigh To Dismissing Equine Massage Teacher’s Case

The First Amendment protects the right to speak freely, without government intrusion. At IJ, we believe that protection applies just as forcefully when people speak for a living. And courts are increasingly starting to agree. 

Last year, IJ sued the Minnesota Office of Higher Education on behalf of Leda Mox, owner and operator of Armstrong Equine Massage. Leda combined her passion for horses and her entrepreneurial spirit into a thriving equine massage business, operating successfully for over a decade. But when the state of Minnesota learned Leda was teaching equine massage to aspiring professionals, it suddenly claimed she was a “private career school” and needed their permission to continue.

Under the challenged law, Leda can teach “avocational” skills but not “vocational” skills. So she can teach someone how to ride a horse and even how to massage one—as long as that student doesn’t intend to use the knowledge to make a living. If they do, Leda is subject to a licensing scheme involving thousands of dollars in fees, a yearly audit, mountains of paperwork, and approval of her curriculum by state bureaucrats—who know nothing about massaging horses.

But teaching is just speech. And when the government regulates your ability to speak based on what you are saying, that regulation is presumptively unconstitutional. In July, a state court agreed and ruled that Leda’s case can go forward, denying the state’s motion to dismiss. If the state wants to regulate Leda, it has to provide a legitimate justification for doing so.

The court relied heavily on our prior success on behalf of a California horseshoeing school. There, we challenged a law prohibiting our client Bob Smith from teaching certain students. IJ has also successfully challenged similar laws protecting the First Amendment rights of engineers and tour guides.

Although this is a great first-round victory, we’re not done. As this case works its way through the courts, IJ is actively litigating eight other cases from coast to coast designed to enforce the same principle: The Constitution protects the right to speak for a living. Stay tuned!

Bobbi Taylor is an IJ attorney.