Court Tells State Psychology Board It Can't Use Its Powers To Regulate Protected Speech
from the derailing-a-power-trip dept
Oh, look. It's the government getting in the way of itself.
A Kentucky psychiatry board cannot censor the nation's longest-running newspaper columnist for providing advice as a "family psychologist," a federal judge ruled.DEAR GOD. The horror. It's like something Ann Landers would say but without wandering off to briefly consider the social destruction wrought by cellphone use at the dinner table.
John Rosemond, whose Dear Abby-style parenting column is syndicated in more than 200 newspapers, claims he received a threatening cease-and-desist letter from the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology on May 7, 2013.
Rosemond, dubbed a family psychologist in his byline, holds a master's degree in psychology and is licensed to practice North Carolina, but is not qualified to provide psychological services to Kentucky residents, according to the board.
The letter, signed by Assistant Attorney General Brian Judy, further alleged Rosemond's advice that parents of a deadbeat teen confiscate their son's cell phone as a "wake-up call," amounted to professional services rendered.
Yes, the Kentucky psychiatry board concern-trolled a syndicated advice columnist, presumably because it felt general advice dispensed across multiple states somehow threatened its rent-seeking regulatory apparatus. But it's finding no comfort from the court, which has told it to stop using its powers to throttle protected speech.
The Board tried to argue that Rosemond's column was unprotected "professional speech," due to his byline as a psychologist. The court finds all kinds of problems with this argument.
This theory is both consistent with how the doctrine has been applied in the aforementioned cases addressing the professional speech doctrine, and is also sensible in light of the doctrine’s aims. Pursuant to this doctrine, the government is permitted to regulate speech in limited circumstances so as to protect the individual receiving advice— the client. As articulated by Justice White, without this professional-client relationship, the doctrine’s vices outweigh its virtues.Once again, legal arguments best described as "novel" fail to score any points. An argument without precedent rarely holds up in court. Comparing the Board's assertions to the actual facts of the case, the court calls the entity out for its transparent attempt at regulating protected speech.
In this case, that “personal nexus between professional and client” does not exist. Neither party suggests that Rosemond has any idea who the teenager in his column is. In fact, nobody knows the individual who Rosemond was writing about or whether that person lives in Kentucky. Nobody knows if the teenager’s parents read the article or took the advice, much less if anyone was harmed. For all the Board knows, the “wakeup call” worked and, instead of harming the teenager, it served its purpose. Furthermore, Rosemond receives no compensation from any person in exchange for the advice offered in his columns. Put plainly, the question and answer format used by Rosemond is nothing more than a literary device. The relationship that is necessary between a professional and a client to trigger application of the professional speech doctrine just did not exist. This should not come as much of a surprise to the Board, who conceded in oral argument that it knew of no case that defined professional speech in the way the Board sought to apply the doctrine.
Rosemond’s speech is neither commercial, nor professional. Instead, the Board used K.R.S. § 319.005 to restrict Rosemond’s speech because it took issue with the message he was conveying. Such government regulation is content-based, and only constitutional if it survives strict scrutiny.The court also takes the time to criticize the board for its attempt to scuttle Rosemond's tagline.
The Board also argues that the tagline at the bottom of Rosemond’s column is commercial speech, and further that Rosemond’s “unqualified use” of the term family psychologist is “potentially misleading, to the public’s detriment.” For the same reasons that the Board’s attempted regulation of the body of Rosemond’s column is content-based, so too is its regulation of his tagline. If Rosemond described himself as something other than a “family psychologist,” or qualified his statement, then the Board would not have pursued him. As discussed, supra, this is the hallmark of a content-based restriction.The decision then goes on to point out that the Board's actions seem particularly meritless and perhaps even a bit vindictive.
If the State’s interest is really in preventing persons unlicensed in the Commonwealth of Kentucky from holding themselves out as licensed professionals, it is difficult to understand how Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and countless other self-help gurus would not also be in the Government’s crosshairs. The Board has never investigated another newspaper columnist, nor book author for holding themselves out to be a “psychologist” without proper licensure in Kentucky. When asked how the Board would respond to a complaint if one were levied against Dr. Phil, the Board did not know. While there is no evidence in the record demonstrating that other public personalities similarly hold themselves out to be “psychologists” in Kentucky, it is hard to believe that others do not.Finding in favor of the columnist, the court has ordered a permanent injunction against the Board's use of its power to regulate protected speech. But why did it even get to this point?
Well, certain regulatory agencies have tried to expand their reach by regulating speech under the guise of public safety. A few years back, North Carolina tried to shut down a blogger extolling the virtues of the "paleolithic diet" by claiming he was dispensing dietary advice without a license. Some government agencies just want to have control. Others dislike outsiders who don't "buy in" to the special "club." (Licensing for psychologists in Kentucky runs $300 initially and $100 per year after that.)
In Rosemond's case, a retired psychologist filed a complaint with the Board after reading one of Rosemond's columns. This resulted in the Board's serving of an affidavit demanding Rosemond pull his column. Rosemond refused and filed a suit against the Board instead, seeking declaratory judgment that the Board's conduct violated his First Amendment rights. He won. And all of this can be traced back to a retired professional who disagreed with Rosemond's advice, and an agency only too eager to flex its regulatory muscle. A complaint that should have been greeted with a shrug has resulted in a judicial smackdown that will prevent the Board from acting so stupidly in the future.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: first amendment, free speech, john rosemond, kentucky, licensing, psychology
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Major confusion in article: Psychiatry versus Psychology
Psychiatry is a medical discipline, with any psychiatrist having to study medicine, then study psychiatry as an additional discipline.
There is less rigor around psychology, and it is not a recognised medical discipline.
For example, psychiatrists can prescribe medicine; psychologists cannot.
Could you please clarify the psychiatry/psychology language in your article; it may be germane to some of the issues in the case.
-- recherche
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Major confusion in article: Psychiatry versus Psychology
Even in modern times, sanity is not all its cracked up to be.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Major confusion in article: Psychiatry versus Psychology
Instead, they are moving to a different criteria: is there a psychological problem than is impairing the person's life? If not, then there's no problem.
Personally, I've never met a person that I would call "sane" as a blanket term. Everyone has a bit of crazy in them.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Dollars to doughnuts that the board will pull the same thing again in the future. Until such time as the members are held personally liable for their actions this will be repeated until a judge with the mind of a honey wagon will rule in their favor.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sorry, this still does not pass muster with the 1st.
While you are not protected from public fallout from people hating your guts for what you say, you should never ever be subject to government for anything you say.
The only type of speech that should involve a court is libel and slander where it is citizen/corp vs citizen/corp.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
If I understand right, the doctrine's aim is protecting the privacy of the client. Like if I was the psychologist, I'm not supposed to blab in the newspaper that my specific patient John Doe has depression issues he is coming to me for.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This should have an interesting effect...
I've been curious with how that law will line up with freedom of speech, especially since many people have very happily been counseled away from homosexuality in the past (for instance, Rosaria Butterfield).
A medical practitioner should be able to help people in whatever way they see fit without the intrusion of government. And people should be free to find the practitioner with a method that helps them.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Actually, I'm surprised Ann Landers got away with it for so long! :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
psychology as a 'black hat' profession
https://theintercept.com/2015/10/13/former-u-s-detainees-sue-psychologists-responsible-fo r-cia-torture-program/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Best pshychological counselling in kolkata
LetSmile is a Psychological Counselling centre in Kolkata. It is founded by young and enthusiastic Prachi Rathi, a post-graduate in Psychological Counseling from IIPR (Indian Institute of Psychology and Research), Bangalore.
The Centre is committed to provide compassionate, professional and affordable counselling services. Through counselling and training programs, the centre helps groups, individuals, couples and families resolve emotional and social problems. Through the services provided by the centre, LetSmile thrives to meet the changing demands of the society. Our strength lies in our distinct approach to therapy. We believe in empowering our clients with healthy coping mechanisms and techniques to deal with their life issues efficiently and effectively. visit http://letsmile.in
[ link to this | view in chronology ]