South Carolina will put a tattoo artist in jail for tattooing someone's face, head, or neck. And a federal lawsuit just called that exactly what it is: a First Amendment violation. The state also bans tattoo shops from opening within 1,000 feet of any church, school, or playground. In a city like Charleston, with churches on nearly every block of its historic downtown, that effectively makes most of the city off-limits for tattoo businesses. Until 2004, South Carolina was one of only two states that completely banned tattooing altogether. The lawsuit argues the current restrictions are not about health and safety. They are about stigma. The plaintiffs are making a simple point: "South Carolina cannot treat tattooing as second-class expression based on stigma or discomfort. The First Amendment protects artistic expression, whether it appears on canvas, paper, or skin." For Black artists, Black business owners, and Black people who use tattooing as cultural expression, spiritual conn...