Entrepreneur Arrested for Braiding Hair?

Teaching someone to braid hair seems simple – but not once the government gets involved, says Institute for Justice senior attorney Jeff Rowes. Rowes tells FBN’s John Stossel about Isis, an entrepreneur recently represented by the Institute for Justice. He says Isis was arrested for teaching hair-braiding without having "jumped through" the required government hoops. “Does American civilization really need the cosmetology cops protecting us from someone who braids hair? It’s ridiculous,” says Rowes.

As for the "government hoops," he says to clear the federal checklist Isis would need to construct a 2,000-square-foot “barber college,” installing ten barber chairs and five wash stations. On top of that, she would need to attend 750 hours of instruction – all of which he says is unnecessary for her end goals. “This is just an arbitrary barrier to an entrepreneur who wants to make a life better for her and the people she’s going to teach to braid,” says Rowes. He says government regulations like these hurt people trying to improve their financial situation, and benefit politically connected and well-off insiders. “The reason for these rules generally is to throw up a barrier, so that existing businesses don’t face competition,” says Rowes.