Supreme court case #2

Issue of the case
In the case of Ron P. White VS. South Carolina the main issue that brought this case before the courts is the arrest of tattoo artist Ron white for performing the act of tattoo. Ron White appealed his case with the defense that his first amendment rights were being violated and that the art of tattooing was a form of free speech and expression, therefore his sentence and arrest were unconstitutional (1) it impermissibly restricted his freedom of speech in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 2 of the South Carolina Constitution, (2) it restricted interstate commerce, and (3) it violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States Constitution. The trial found that his case was constitutional under the statute in place. The trial court found that the art of tattooing was not free speech and posed a public health risk. Ron White then moved that the State of South Carolina was not enforcing section 16-17-700 of the South Carolina Code properly. Then the state of South Carolina disagreed and sited previous cases of free speech such as; State v. Brad, which was a case about child pornography, People v. O'Sullivan which is a child molestation/rape case, and Yurkew v. Sinclair which is actually another tattooing case but more about licensing than prohibiting. The State of Carolina stood on the fact that the art of tattooing has too many inherent health risks that it poses to the people of South Carolina. “Whether or not tattooing qualifies as speech, symbolic speech, or otherwise protected expression under the First Amendment is an issue of first impression in South Carolina. We look to the United States Supreme Court for guidance in analyzing this issue. According to the United States Supreme Court, the First Amendment protects speech, including conduct, if sufficiently communicative in character”.

Supreme court case

Ron P. White vs South Carolina

Ron p. White a Tattoo artist, preformed a live tattoo on local television in South Carolina to demonstrate his objection to the ban of tattooing. After the broadcast Ron White was arrested and charged with a 2,500 dollar fine and put on probation for 5 years for breaking the anti-tattoo law. Ron White then claimed that his arrest and prosecution was against is first amendment right of free speech .The Ban contends that the art of tattooing has many health risks and is hard to regulate.