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City attorney: Tour licenses regulate business, not speech

FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2016 file photo, a carriage moves through the City Market area in downtown Charleston, S.C. A federal judge has set an April, 19, 2016 hearing on a lawsuit challenging a requirement that tour guides who charge for their services in Charleston be required to pass both written and oral examinations. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege the requirements violate their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech. (AP Photo/Bruce Smith, file)
FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2016 file photo, a carriage moves through the City Market area in downtown Charleston, S.C. A federal judge has set an April, 19, 2016 hearing on a lawsuit challenging a requirement that tour guides who charge for their services in Charleston be required to pass both written and oral examinations. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege the requirements violate their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech. (AP Photo/Bruce Smith, file) FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2016 file photo, a carriage moves through the City Market area in downtown Charleston, S.C. A federal judge has set an April, 19, 2016 hearing on a lawsuit challenging a requirement that tour guides who charge for their services in Charleston be required to pass both written and oral examinations. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege the requirements violate their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech. (AP Photo/Bruce Smith, file)

By Associated Press 2 min read

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Charleston’s ordinance requiring tour guides to have a license has nothing to do with freedom of speech, it’s about regulating business, attorneys for the city say.

The dispute has been playing out in several historic cities nationwide. In Charleston, three plaintiffs sued in January saying that the city licenses granted only to those who pass a 200-question written exam and an oral exam violate First Amendment rights of freedom of speech.

The lawyers for the city disagreed.

“Plaintiffs are wrong,” attorneys for the city wrote in a response filed this month. “With or without a tour guide license, plaintiffs may communicate whatever message about the City of Charleston they want.”

They note that no license is required for those who give free tours and “the license requiring minimum qualifications is only necessary if tour guides seek to charge for their services.” The 12-page response adds that “the plaintiffs’ underlying purpose for becoming a tour guide is to earn money, not engage in free speech.”