Federal Judge Strikes Down Fortunetelling Ban Alexandria, Louisiana

A federal judge ended a ban on fortunetelling, astrology, palm reading and similar activities in the central Louisiana city of Alexandria. U.S. District Judge Dee Drell ruled earlier this week that the ban on mystic activities is unconstitutional, once again allowing Tarot cards to be used to guide central Louisiana residents about their future. Alexandria, LA resident Rachel Adams sued the city after she was issued a court summons for violating the fortunetelling ban, The Blaze reports.

Adams maintained that she did not charge visitors for her fortunetelling services, she only accepted donations. The Alexandria “otherworldly” ban carried a daily penalty fine of up to $500, according to The Town Talk. Adams also told The Town Talk that she is a fifth-generation psychic.

U.S. Magistrate James Kirk recommended last month the Judge Dell strike down on the fortunetelling, card reading and related activities ban. “To apply the ordinance literally would outlaw every ‘amateur psychiatrist, parlor sage and barstool philosopher’ in Alexandria who dares to suggest to another what the future may hold,” Magistrate Kirk noted in a court judgment he authored in support of repealing the fortunetelling ban in Louisiana, The Blaze notes.

The city of Alexandria argued in support on continuing the ban because they feel the business of fortunetelling is “a fraud and inherently deceptive. Magistrate Kirk maintained that fortunetelling is free speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment.

“We also note with interest that the ‘art’ of fortune telling proliferates in front of the St. Louis Cathedral, in the cit of New Orleans apparently without incident,” Judge Dell wrote in the Alexandria fotunetellling ban ruling.