A Hanover business owner’s legal challenge to a 165-year-old Pennsylvania ban on fortune-telling is heading to court.
Serpent’s Key owner Beck Lawrence, who uses they/them pronouns, received a letter notifying them that U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Wilson had ordered a July 22 conference call to set new deadlines. The judge in Pennsylvania’s Middle District denied a request by the state Attorney General’s Office to dismiss Lawrence’s lawsuit.
“I’m very much looking forward to speaking with them and making sure that we have finally some end in sight,” Lawrence said.
The lawsuit was filed on August 19, 2024, and alleged civil rights violations by the Hanover police department and the borough after police visited their shop in October 2023. At that time, Chief Chad Martin allegedly referenced an obscure, century-old state law that restricts tarot readings.
The 163-year-old statute, Title 18, Section 7104, makes fortune telling a third-degree misdemeanor if someone is found guilty of “pretending for gain or lucre, to tell fortunes or predict future events, by cards, tokens, the inspection of the head or hands of any person, or by the age of anyone, or by consulting the movements of the heavenly bodies, or in any other manner.”
The rarely prosecuted statute is punishable with up to a year in jail or up to a $2,500 fine.
While the police didn’t take any enforcement measures, Lawrence’s lawsuit claimed that the possibility of future enforcement is a violation of their rights.
“My goal is that this law gets dropped from the record so it can’t really be used to target other people in the way that it was used to target me,” Lawrence said.
They added that there is a bill now that would also strike the law from the books and they would be happy with either the lawsuit or the bill working out. They added that for those interested, they should call or write to their elected officials about this bill.
Lawrence said it is huge that the courts are taking the time to take this case seriously and see that something has to be done.
They added that it is important today to fight events such as the military reducing the number of recognized religions, faiths and belief systems recently. The Department of Defense reduced the number from 200 to 31. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth claimed it was to “streamline” the collection of military members’ religious preferences and enhance support from chaplains.
Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of Military Religious Freedom Foundation, called the reduction unconstitutional, immoral and unethical.
Lawrence said that the reduction erased paganism, druidism, Norse paganism and more, which then limits what military personnel are allowed to spiritually connect with while they are enlisted. They added that this appears as if the military is saying the other belief systems aren’t real.
It’s important, they said, for people to see that even though neighbors have different beliefs, they still deserve the same respect. Rather, they said, the community should be working to make life better.
They added that they are proud to stand up and make sure this statute won’t be used against anyone else. Lawrence said it is important to see this through because they would hate for another person to have to deal with this when they had the opportunity to put an end to it.
They also found it encouraging to see the judge say this should not be dismissed. Wilson wrote in the order some flaws with the Attorney General’s Office’s arguments to dismiss the case, including how “pretend” was used. Wilson wrote that the lawyers representing Pennsylvania in the matter suggested that pretending is deception. For instance, if a child pretended to be sick could be seen as deceiving the parents to avoid going to school.
“Then again, a child may also ‘pretend to be a great white shark,” Wilson wrote. “That does not mean he is trying to deceive his parents into buying a bigger or sturdier boat.”
It is understood that the child can’t be a shark, which means no one has been deceived or defrauded, Wilson wrote. The judge wrote that the statute prohibits one from pretending to do impossible acts, but the pretense in that case doesn’t have to be interpreted as to defraud.
Lawrence said that to have an official document that shows that this shouldn’t be dismissed is cool and reflects a similar attitude to William Penn, who presided over the first witch trial in the state, which he called ridiculous. They added that magic, witchcraft and similar weren’t outlawed until after his death.
The complaint filed in the lawsuit alleges that, because the department and borough will not agree to withhold any future prosecution of the state statute, the department and borough are “violating Beck’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.”
“Despite being given multiple opportunities to confirm that it will not enforce the Fortune Telling Statute, Hanover has expressly stated that it will pursue and enforce this law against Beck if it receives credible information that they have violated the Fortune Telling Statute,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit is requesting the court to rule that the fortune telling statute violates the First and Fourth amendments to the Constitution. The suit also asks the court to prevent Hanover Borough from enforcing the statute, and it seeks attorneys’ fees along with any other equitable relief that the court deems justifiable to be awarded to Lawrence.
The lawsuit follows in the wake of an October 2023 incident that was ignited by a feature by Main Street Hanover on a small downtown Hanover business, The Serpent’s Key Shoppe and Sanctuary, run by Lawrence.
After the article came out, Lawrence shared a social media post showing the text of an email from an unidentified representative of Main Street Hanover informing Lawrence about an interaction the representative had with Hanover Borough Police Chief Chad Martin.
The email to Lawrence says that Martin had read the article and saw “tarot reading” listed, and the chief mentioned stopping by to let Lawrence know that paid tarot reading is considered fortune telling in Pennsylvania, which is illegal. “When I spoke to him, it was just to notify you about the law in PA, not to press any charges or make any arrest,” the email reads.
After a social media outcry, Martin stated in response, saying he intended to educate the business about the statute.
“There was never an investigation, nor was there any threat of arrest in this matter,” he wrote and suggested those who found the statute problematic should contact their legislators.
