Psychic Readings Can Be a Pennsylvania Crime!

Beware - Keystone State Arrests and Prosecutes “Fortune-tellers"

Oct 16, 2009

A law, enacted in the 1860s, made fortune-telling for profit a crime. Recent court cases and a modern "witch hunt" evidence it still stands. Should the law be rescinded?

PA code 18, §7104 defines fortune-telling as a person charging fees for telling fortunes or predicting the future by any manner such as reading cards, palmistry and astrology. Casting spells, giving people potions and advertising services are also crimes. The maximum penalty is a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. According to this statute, psychic expos could be raided and shut down, as speakeasies were in the past.

Marie May, Busted for Fortune-telling

A complaint about Marie May from Pennsylvania’s Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection prompted the Lebanon County police to send undercover officer Andrea Kohut to May’s home for a $25 psychic reading in 1998. May performed palmistry, read Tarot cards and used a crystal ball. She told Kohut that a dark cloud hung over her and she could remove the curse for $79.

May was charged with the crime of fortune-telling. Why wasn’t May also charged with bunko and other crimes when she tried to con Kohut?

Philadelphia’s 2007 Crack-down on Fortune-tellers

Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections, (L&I,) citing the law banning fortune-telling for profit, asked police to shut down storefront “fortune-tellers.” Practitioners were given warnings that, if they continued their readings, they would be arrested.

Psychic Monica Mitchell contacted her lawyer who filed requests for a restraining order and a preliminary injunction. His argument was that the law banning fortune-telling was part of a criminal statute, not one of a regulatory code, and the L&I couldn’t enforce it. Philadelphia solicitors agreed and psychics were left alone.

Downingtown Fortune-telling Case

April S. Uwanawich was charged with the crimes of fortune-telling, thefts by extortion and deception and receiving stolen property.

Victim Yun Su told April that she’d been unlucky. April told Su she was cursed and to place a box under her bed and put coins and cash into it daily. After several weeks, April took the box containing $16,320, which she said was necessary to burn the curse.

More attempts to remove the curse followed, costing Su at least $23,000. Su became disgruntled and confronted April who offered to refund her money. She returned some of it when Su went to police who charged April with the crimes. The case was held in abeyance until all the money was restored. April was allowed to plea guilty to a summary charge, criminal mischief, which merely required that she pay a fine and costs.

Should Pennsylvania Strike Down the Fortune-Telling Law?

In the 1600s, Pennsylvania was an English colony, subject to its mother country’s laws. Practicing witchcraft was a crime. During the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, people feared Pennsylvania Dutch hexenmeisters because they were witches who could cast evil spells. People who were believed to be witches were killed. Today, there are no laws against practicing the craft. The Philadelphia incident is reminiscent of witch hunts in the past.

The law against fortune-telling seems archaic. Psychic lines advertise in Pennsylvania’s media with the disclaimer that readings are for entertainment only. A trip through Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley reveals readers’ homes with signs, some neon, touting their services. There are psychic expos where people can get readings and consult with practitioners who will remove hexes. Under the existing law, a person can report the crime and have these events raided.

Criminal laws exist to prosecute people for fraud and bunko. April committed theft by extortion and deception and receiving stolen property in the amount of over $23,000 and was allowed to plea guilty to a summary charge. The thefts and receiving stolen property are felonies because the amount of money taken was over $2,000. Each charge, if one is convicted, carries a maximum prison penalty of seven years. Is the Commonwealth’s law against fortune-telling that allows modern “witch hunts” necessary? It's a question that arises as these cases become more commonplace.

Articles Related to Pennsylvania Law Outlawing Psychic Readers

The copyright of the article Psychic Readings Can Be a Pennsylvania Crime! in Paranormal is owned by Jill Stefko . Permission to republish Psychic Readings Can Be a Pennsylvania Crime! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.