Spa Owner Says 1st Amendment Protects "Laying On of Hands"

In July, a civil jury in Tuscon, Arizona found against John LaVoie in a civil forfeiture proceeding charging him with prostitution related offenses. Today's Arizona Star reports that LaVoie, who operates the Angel's Heaven Relaxation Spa, says he is pastor of the Church of Liberty. He is objecting to the proposed order that he forfeit nearly $2 million in assets, asserting a free exercise defense. He argues that Spa employees were merely comforting the afflicted through the religious act of "laying on of hands." Meanwhile it turns out that in February 2006, while LaVoie was being investigated, Pima County, using its random selection procedure to invite ministers to deliver an invocation at the Board of Supervisors meeting, heard an invocation from LaVoie.