California Horseshoeing School Prevails In Constitutional Lawsuit

The Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School has prevailed in a years-long constitutional fight against the state of California, the American Farriers Journal revealed. The state's legislature repealed a law that required students without a high school diploma to complete an entrance exam before enrolling in a private postsecondary institution, essentially making it illegal to teach vocational job skills to students without that diploma.

PCHS owner Bob Smith, a member of the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame, filed a lawsuit against the state of California in 2017 when the law required him to turn down the enrollment of prospective student Esteban Narez. Narez did not complete high school after suffering a tear in the medial collateral ligament of his knee, and had since been employed at a seven-days-a-week job at a horse farm.

Narez attempted to enroll in PCHS, since farriers are able to make more money than farm hands, but Smith was forced to turn down his application.

“It's legal in California for Esteban to try shoeing a horse on his own, but it's illegal for PCHS to teach Esteban how to horseshoe,” explained Keith Diggs, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, which represented Esteban and PCHS. “Teaching and learning are protected by the First Amendment, and that doesn't change just because Esteban wants to pay PCHS to teach him.”

UCLA School of Law Professor Eugene Volokh filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief supporting Smith and PCHS on the grounds of constitutional free speech.

“For many vocations, including horseshoeing, a high school education and test-taking ability are not required for effective performance,” Volokh wrote. “Indeed, these are among the vocations that may often earn the best living for people without high school diplomas. And rough proxies for supposedly fraudulent speech that risk chilling free speech cannot pass the strict scrutiny required for content-based speech restrictions.”

On June 10, 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision that California likely violated Bob Smith's constitutional rights by prohibiting him from teaching students how to shoe horses.

The repeal of the law came on Sept. 28, 2021.

“These changes will permit students without a high school diploma or the equivalent to enroll in private post-secondary institutions without having to complete the admissions prerequisite of passing an alternate entrance examination,” according to the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE). “As a result of the changes, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, a student who is otherwise qualified and has a reasonable prospect of completing an instructional program, but lacks a high school diploma or the equivalent, will no longer have to pass an 'ability-to-benefit' examination in order to enroll in the program.”

“Our trade organizations can have educational requirements, as they are private industry,” Smith told the AFJ. “In a free society, each individual should have the right to try and succeed or try and fail, using their own money and their own time without government interference.”

Read more at the American Farriers Journal.

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CA Horseshoeing School Barred From Enrolling Certain Students

Recently, the decision of a lawsuit brought forth by a horse shoeing school, farrier and student was overturned in a California court. The lawsuit alleges that the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 violates the First Amendment rights of Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School (PCHS) and Bob Smith to teach farriery, and also violates the rights of Esteban Narez to learn.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the United States Court for the Eastern District of California, stating that the Act controls more than contractual relations and that content discrimination was apparent. The panel does not contest that the state cannot regulate for-profit teaching, but it does ask for demonstration of why PCHS cannot enroll Narez, a high-school dropout.

Keith Diggs, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, is representing PCHS, Smith and Narez. He is asking for evidence to back up why Narez should be barred from the school. The state plans to file a petition for rehearing, which is rare. If the rehearing is denied, the case will return to district court, where the state must provide an evidence-based argument as to why PCHS cannot teach horsehoeing to students who don't have a high school diploma.

The law had a well-intentioned goal when it was written: curbing schools that preyed upon underqualified students, giving them fake credentials and massive student loan debt. The California law applies to all schools, even those that don't accept student loans, like PCHS.

As written, the law prohibits PCHS from enrolling Narez because he doesn't have a high school diploma or GED, nor has he passed a government-approved exam stating that he is proficient in math, reading, writing and other criteria. The state has threatened to shut down the horse shoeing school because PCHS doesn't require that students take the test.

Read more at American Farriers Journal.

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