All in no-nonsense terms.
All with blistering criticism of regulatory schemes.
On March 20, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has struck the so-called "coffin cartel", the regulation of coffin making (as in - simple wooden box making to contain the remains of the dead to be buried in the ground or burnt) by - guess - boards of private funeral directors.
This is how the 5th Circuit described how and why monks started their coffin making business after Hurricane Katrina:
Funeral directors and embalmers could not stand that somebody else is invading their turf and making money on it.
Thus - the Louisiana state regulatory body run by private funeral directors and embalmers plunged the monks into 5 (five!) years of litigation.
That's right, 5 years of litigation were necessary for the monks to establish their right to make those wooden boxes without first undergoing hundreds of hours of expensive "training" and permits from - funeral directors and embalmers, the monks' own competitors-in-trade.
All the monks wanted was to supplement their income by making simple wooden coffins which are more or less affordable to people. What the monks got is five years of litigation and harassment - not to mention stress and expense.
The 5th Circuit stated that "Neither precedent nor broader principles suggest that mere economic protection of a pet industry is a legitimate governmental purpose."
And that pretty much sums up the complete illegitimacy of occupational licensing as it exists nowadays.
It does not fulfill its declared purpose (protecting consumers), is making services scarce, less diverse and more expensive, and satisfies interests for monopolization of the market by the private interest groups that regulate the market - in the name of people's safety, of course.
After the 5th circuit's decision, the pet industry litigation continued on other turfs.
On February 25, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court has struck regulation of teeth whitening by the private cartel (a/k/a State Board) of dentists.
On May 4, 2015 a Consumer Union warned the National Association of Attorney General that the U.S. Supreme Court decision appears to apply not only to teeth whitening, but is "cosmic", applies to all professions run by its own private professionals and may expose states to extreme financial liability (through antitrust lawsuits).
On June 26, 2015 the Texas Supreme Court has struck, on state constitutional grounds (not appealable to the U.S. Supreme Court), regulation of eyebrow threading by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, reversing decisions of two lower courts that ruled in favor of the regulation.
Some commentators, by the way, argued that the Texas Supreme Court failed to protect Texans from health dangers and made Texas a much more dangerous place to live in.
The death penalty administered by corrupt criminal justice system does not make Texas a dangerous place to live.
Immunity of public officials who can kill you, maim you, take your property, children, livelihood away is not a danger to the people.
Unregulated eyebrow threading, teeth whitening, coffin making, what not - is. Surreal.
It appears from the decisions and from the language of the decisions against pet industry regulation by pet industry players that the courts - finally - are becoming profoundly PISSED OFF by the sheer stupidity of such so-called "regulation", the enormous time that litigating such nonsense takes, the total lack of benefit to the public and the self-serving purpose of the regulation for private regulators.
It appears that occupational regulation, which at this time regulates, for the declared purposes of protecting public safety, of course, HUNDREDS of professions and occupations - from flower arrangements to interior design to hair braiding (yes, you have to have training and permission from the government to braid people's hair), has taken up 1/3 of jobs in the U.S. economy and is hurting the poor, blocking an enormous number of people from being gainfully self-employed and providing for themselves and their families by engaging in innocent and useful trades.
Courts usually do not pay much attention to the fate of the poor.
So why now?
Why several courts at the same time?
Why no usual deference to the government?
Has the cost of allowing the regulation of the U.S. economy by private interest groups become too much of a burden to the U.S. economy that even the conservative courts took notice and try to reverse the damage already done?
And my final question here - why wouldn't the taxpayers ask their governments to show them how much this litigation, funded out of the taxpayer pockets, cost - and ask taxpayers, finally, do they want such a costly "protection".
