Florida Interior Designers Free at Last
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| flickr.com |
| Interior design by any other name... |
Free at last. Free at last. An injunction gives sunshine state interior designers the freedom to advertise their services with controversial, explosive words like..."interior design".
That's right, yesterday Federal District Judge Robert L. Hinkle signed an agreed injunction that prevents the Florida's State Board of Architecture and Interior Design from enforcing provisions of a Florida law that prevents decorators from advertsing "interior design" services without state licensing, which required two years of classes, four years of apprenticeship (like Johnny Tremain, but gayer), and passing a special exam administered by a national design institute. The ruling will remain in effect until the resolution of a civil case filed by the Institute for Justice on behalf of several Florida women barred from calling themselves designers.
"The State should not be in the business of censoring interior designers' speech and preventing entrepreneurs like our clients from finding work, particularly in the current economic climate," said Clark Neily, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, via email.
"Florida's interior design law has nothing to do with protecting the public and everything to do with protecting state-licensed interior designers from fair competition," declared Neily, adding that the injunction "is an important step towards getting rid of Florida's unfair, illegitimate and anti-competitive licensing law root and branch."
In May, the Institute for Justice filed a suit challenging Florida's interior design law in federal court, seeking to eliminate what they called a "glaring violation of the right to earn a living free from arbitrary and unreasonable government interference." The libertarian law firm put together a study on what they see as unfair practices, available here. They put together the video below:
That's right, he have real libertarian interior designers here in Florida.
One of the designers commented via email too: "Florida's law has been standing in the way of my ability to launch my career," says Eva Locke. "It is devastating to be forbidden from using the most accurate terms to describe myself and my services when I try to reach potential clients."
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