Hermosa Beach Tattoo Parlor Ban

Back in 2010 there was a big furor about the city of Hermosa Beach deciding to ban all tattoo parlors in the city. It all began when tattoo artist Johnny Anderson decided to push to have the city allow him to open a new location of Yer Cheat’n Heart, his tattoo parlor Gardena. He was very interested in an area that happened to be in nearby Hermosa Beach, a small beach community is Southern California. But the city continued to rebuff his efforts.

City Claims Health Risk

When Anderson applied for a city license he was told that tattoo parlors posed a health risk in the city and so Hermosa Beach did not allow them. When asked to clarify, they stated that the “open wounds” that are created in a tattoo could lead to infection and disease. In support of their claim, the lone tattoo parlor inspector in Los Angeles County said that he saw many violations and plenty of tattoo parlors that do not follow proper hygiene rules.

9^th Circuit Ruling Protects First Amendment Rights

When Anderson took the battle regarding tattoo regulations to the courts, he spent three years fighting the city-wide ban on tattoo shops. Finally the court case came before the Court Circuit of appeals that ruled Anderson was entitled to his First Amendment right of freedom of expression. The court ruled that it still applied to tattoo parlors and that freedom of speech should not be abrogated simply because it was on a person’s body.

Today several tattoo parlors have opened in Hermosa Beach. Although the city was not happy with another tattoo parlor that opened with a punk rock concert that it was not licensed for, it looks like tattoo parlors are here to stay. And that suits tattoo artists Johnny Anderson just fine.