Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Regulation Is Bad Karma
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_07_05-2009_07_11.shtml#1247316031
As state regulators discover yoga is an "industry," they've rushed in
to regulate, and now the yoga "industry" is fighting back. The NYT
[1]reports:
Citing laws that govern vocational schools, like those for
hairdressers and truck drivers, regulators have begun to require
licenses for yoga schools that train instructors, with all the
fees, inspections and paperwork that entails. While confrontations
have played out differently in different states, threats of
shutdowns and fines have, in some cases, been met with accusations
of power grabs and religious infringement � disputes that seem far
removed from the meditative world yoga calls to mind. . . .
Regulators said licensing the schools would allow states to enforce
basic standards and protect customers who usually spend $2,000 to
$5,000 on training courses, not to mention provide revenue for
cash-starved governments. �If you�re going to start a school and
take people�s money, you should play by a set of rules,� said
Patrick Sweeney, a Wisconsin licensing official, who believes that
in 2004 he was the first to discover the online registry and use it
to begin regulating yoga teaching.
It appears from the story that the yogis have won their battle against
regulation in New York; in other places, not so much.
References
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/nyregion/11yoga.html
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