Who ever thought you would be required to pay the government for the right to tell others where the Constitution -- America’s founding document enumerating the right to free speech -- is housed? Welcome to today. The District of Columbia requires tour guides to apply and pay for an occupational license in order to operate lawfully within the DC-area. That means if you accept money for telling citizens and tourists where buildings like the Capitol and the White House stand or where documents like the Declaration of Independence are housed, you could be fined up to $300 or put in jail for up to 90 days. Of course, unless you pay tribute to the Capital City.
The owners of Segs in the City, a small business which provides Segway-guided tours in Washington DC, Annapolis, and Baltimore, Maryland, are under siege by the DC government for not paying their application, license, and exam fees, a time consuming $200 process which takes them away from their business and away from earning a living. The Institute for Justice (IJ), a public-interest law firm that fights for free speech and economic liberty, has filed a lawsuit for the tourist company in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
In a press conference with the National Archives in the background -- the building which has the Constitution inside -- IJ lawyers Robert McNamara and Chip Mellor stood with Segs in the City owners Tonia Edwards and Bill Main. McNamara told the 20 reporters and tourists assembled that “the government cannot be in the business of deciding who may speak and who may not. … The Constitution protects your right to communicate for a living, whether you are a journalist, a musician or a tour guide.” Edwards added, “We have a business license to operate, but the government cannot force us to get an additional license to speak.”