I. First Amendment Protection
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects speech, including
conduct, if the conduct is expressive and sufficiently communicative in
nature. See Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405, 409-10 (1974).
While the U.S. Supreme Court has not directly addressed whether
tattooing qualifies as protected First Amendment activity, this Court
has held that tattooing is a protected form of expression under the
First Amendment and Article 16 of the Massachusetts Declaration of
Rights. See MacNeil v. The Board of Appeal of Boston, Civil No. 02-01225 (Suffolk Super.Ct. Aug. 9, 2004) (Connolly, J.) [18 Mass. L. Rptr. 1531; Lanphear v. Commonwealth, No. 99-1896-B, slip op. (Suffolk Super.Ct. Oct. 20, 2000) (Rouse, J.); Commonwealth v. Meuse,
Cr. No. 98-02639 (Essex Super.Ct. Nov. 29, 1999) (van Gestel, J.) [10
Mass. L. Rptr. 661] ("Tattooing is recognized by government agencies as
both an art form and a profession and tattoo-related art work is the
subject of museum, gallery and educational institution art shows across
the United States . . . Tattooing cannot be said to be other than one of
the many kinds of expression so steadfastly protected by our Federal
and State Constitutions"). This Court has no difficulty in agreeing that
tattooing constitutes expression protected by the First Amendment. https://casetext.com/case/voigt-v-city-of-medford
