New Hampshire busts a Free Stater for manincuring without a license:

Newmarket’s Mike Fisher was arrested outside the office of the state Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics on Monday after he gave a manicure without a license. A member of the Free State Project, Fisher, 23, knew his arrest was imminent even before he pulled out his emery board but persisted in order to take a stand against government regulations.

[...]

When Fisher accepted $1 from fellow free-stater Kat Dillon of Keene and began buffing her nails, inspectors from the board informed Fisher he was in violation of the law.

When he ceased, Concord police were called. Police arrived and witnessed Fisher “actively engaged” in giving Dillon a manicure.

Of course, this was all done “for your own good:”

According to officials at the state board that regulates manicurists across the state, it is not such an innocent act. In fact, laws and regulations for barbers, cosmetologists and manicurists “exist to protect public health,” said Lynda Elliott, administrator for the state Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics.

“Licensing exists to protect the consumer, not restrict businesses,” Elliott said. “We want to protect the public from the spread of communicable diseases. There are many types of fungus that can be contracted, and in fact the hands and fingernails are the dirtiest part of your body.”

Elliott added anyone can get a license as long as they complete 300 hours at an accredited training school.

Add “clean cuticles” to the ever-expanding sphere of what constitutes “public health.”

Thanks to Laura Chidester for the tip.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 10th, 2005 at 2:52 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.