Group sues over Philly tour guide testing law
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - July 2, 2008 CLICK ABOVE TO WATCH VERNON ODOM'S REPORT FROM APRIL 3.
Mayor Michael Nutter signed the law in April amid concerns some
guides were perpetuating gross inaccuracies, including the false
claims that Benjamin Franklin had 69 illegitimate children and that
three-time widow Betsy Ross killed her husbands.
But the guides, backed by a public-interest law firm, argue the
city has gone too far and want the law overruled. They say their
constitutional rights are being violated in the very city where the
Declaration of Independence was adopted 232 years ago.
"Mistakes happen everywhere," said Robert McNamara, attorney
for the Institute of Justice, which filed the suit. "But just
because mistakes occasionally happen doesn't mean the government
can license who can talk. People have the right to decide who they
want to listen to."
City officials say they are trying to protect the very history
that brings millions of tourists to Philadelphia and generates
billions of dollars in revenue every year. They don't want anyone
leaving town believing that it is Ben Franklin atop City Hall (it's
William Penn) or that homes were once taxed based on how wide they
were.
"Tourism is a major part of our local economy," said Douglas
Oliver, a spokesman for the mayor. "It is reasonable to ensure to
that tourists are getting accurate information."
The tests are to be required beginning in October. Washington,
New Orleans and Charleston, S.C., have similar laws regulating tour
guides. The suit is the first to challenge such tour guide
regulations, McNamara said.
Ann Boulais, one of the tour guide plaintiffs, said it is not a
government's place to regulate what private people say on public
streets. She said she would take a certification test at the behest
of the tour guide's council, but not the city.
"My concern is, where does it end?" said Boulais, 49, who has
been giving tours for five years. "Are you now going to license a
standup comedian to see if he's funny?"
Oliver noted that the law applies to people who are getting paid
to give tours, not to people such as volunteers or teachers or
people giving tours on private property.
But the tour guides say they can police themselves - and want
the city to stay out of it.
Michael Tait, another guide represented in the suit, said he is
always careful to tell his tours when something is folklore and
when it is fact. He often addresses the tale that Betsy Ross sewed
the first American flag, explaining that it is folklore and that
there is no proof.
Some guides do tell "whoppers" - such as Franklin being the
statue on top of City Hall. But Josh Silver, the third guide in the
suit, says most are accurate, if not perfect.
"I simply qualify my comments and speak with honesty," Silver
said. "Certainly, I've made mistakes. I'm sure everybody has."